


Mishmash Rewind

by emissaryarchitect



Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: Other, THIS IS ALL VERYVERY OLD, as in we start in 2013/2014 era, but there's also fluff, oh god its so old y'all, self harm mention, this is just a GAGGLE of things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 03:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 105,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16846255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emissaryarchitect/pseuds/emissaryarchitect
Summary: Since tunglr.hell is exploding, per the request of some friends, I'm throwing all my Supremely old flaming arrow fics in here. so old. archaic. they got dust babey. they got Sediment on em.Most of them are pretty silly or nonsensical and written by a 15/16 year old who had never been in a fandom personally before, so be prepared for some cringe lmao





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think this was the VERY first fic I ever wrote and posted, and it was at the request of a friend, since I was so insanely shy. This was around... early 2014 I think? Late 2013?? Either way its got some mileage, hooboy

_AvaOdin AU where Ava is a homeless girl living on the street and Odin is an aspiring Mafia dude that takes her in because he feels guilty on watching her sleep on his building steps every night_

Quick fanfic inspired by that prompt

 

The business was easy.

Everyday there was another gang trying to push up, pull out, shove in, and get a cut of what wasn’t theirs. They were easy to deal with, fine starched clothes dyed red; they were easy to cut down because they knew.

Each and every one of these people knew what they were getting into when they stepped on the stairs to his door.

He was known for how he dressed; violet suits, so deep in color they shone in pitch black, white shirts and leather tap shoes, he didn’t look like the ring leader of a renowned mafia gang. None of the other gangs messed with him, not the Wraths with their hot headedness, not the Envies with dark, cold eyes peering in the wet nights. The only other Drug lord he had problems with was that Titan guy. He never left his home base, and the people there were devoted to him more than the Christians to their God. They probably thought Titan was their God. He had seen his people up close once, hair cut short and a dead look in their eyes, bright blue their color and a capital T their insignia.

They knew what they were getting into.

The business was easy.

The consequences were not.

A needed Titan base was under an old school. Odin was a murderer, but even killing kids made his hands itch. Taking a long drag from his cigarette, he told his men to blow up the school after hours. Titan killed children all the time, and then initiated the leftover orphans into his twisted society. A bitter gin pulled his lips back, he told his men they would  _not_  be Titan and they would not do something so down low as that.

Titan found out they knew.

The school got out at three o’ clock.

Titan blew up the school at two thirty.

Odin watched in a sour horror as the red brick building went up in flames, the screaming of who knows how many children inside burning. Of course, in Titan’s book they’d be called a sacrifice for his noble cause, put up in the pure pyre of flames.

The ringleader Arrow crushed the cigarette in his bare palm.

His sisters were good with Intel, Raven and Crow, they’d find out soon enough another one of Titan’s bases. It didn’t help that the school burning was called a horrific accident on the news. It just showed how much power Titan had, both in the law and the shadows.

Odin was watching through dark velvet curtains that night, rolling his shoulders. Titan would not be treated well for their insolence, for their  _murder_. Those kids were no older than his own sisters. If Odin had gone a different path, it would be his sisters burning up, his sisters dying for another pound of drugs or another secret about the town’s police force.

It was raining, the droplets streaking down his perfectly clean windows, heavy and rattling his sealed roof. He was rich, of course. Nearly rolling in money. But he needed more if he wanted to take down that bastard Titan.

Then, almost silently, he heard the steps to his door creak.

He left his stairs old wood, he could hear if someone was approaching. An attack? Titan didn’t know his home base, one of the only things he relished about having the upper hand. Out of habit, his hand wandered to his hip, where his pistol lay tucked under fine fabrics.

Inching toward the door, he looked out the window, peeking through silky curtains. He could see a figure, hunched over, a hood over their features. It was far too small to be an adult, and he could spot little black toe shoes peeking out from the cloth. An orphan? They were notorious for the neighborhood, but he was surprised that Titan hadn’t inducted all of them into his sick plots.

The girl shivered, pulling the hood around her tighter. A pang of pity rattled through his system, and he decided he could afford leaving the girl there. His steps were dry, and she was just some kid stuck in a dirty neighborhood.

She pulled down her hood suddenly, and great cascades of burgundy hair fell from her shoulders, down onto the steps. Although it was at an angle, he could barely see her incline her head.

She was gorgeous.

He turned around, walking away from the window. The kid could stay for now.

**O O O O O**

She kept coming back after that, probably because no average criminal would approach his base and his steps were dry.

She was safe, in a way.

Odin didn’t even know her name; just knew at night she’d wander over to his steps, curl up in a pitiful ball and fall into a half sleep. More than once he’d knocked into the wall or bumped a vase, and she shot up off the steps as if there was a bomb under them.

It was one cold night, colder than usual, that she didn’t come. He was almost anxious. He didn’t want Titan getting their dirty hands on her. Of course, he had no way of knowing if she had committed any crimes, but she had the innocent feeling about her that lost dogs and forgotten dolls did.

His sister’s noticed he waited by the windows, his hands folded behind his back.

**O O O O O**

It was the next night she appeared, her cloak and hoodie gone, and her shoes missing. She was limping too – must’ve gotten into a fight – and she all but collapsed on the steps.

He laughed at himself, how he had to gather up the courage to open the door, he who shot down people with a pinpoint aim, earning his name Arrow, how he could glare a thug in the eye and snicker about it, he had to gather his courage.

He opened the door, and she shot to her feet. Spinning around, he finally got a good look at her face, and it made bile lurch up his throat.

She had burns up her neck and hands, down her legs.

She had been in the school fire, and had somehow survived.

Her eyes were bright, fiery and full of the survival instincts of a trained hound. She also had bruises, forming down one eye, cuts like nail scratches down her arms.

“H-Hey,” he said aloud. Of course this was when his stutter kicked in. She tensed. “W-what’s your name?”

“Why do you care?” was her hot reply, clipped and seething.

“Y-you’ve been sleeping on my s-stairs for a few weeks, I thought I’d ask.” Her sarcastic attitude dropped, showing the girl underneath for a moment. He’d almost forgotten what kids that didn’t worship Titan looked like.

“I- oh, I’m sorry. I can leave.” Before she could walk away, he grabbed her arm – internally wincing at how rough her skin felt – and she automatically pulled back. “What?” She asked, not angry but confused.

“L-Look,” he started, running large fingers through thick black locks of hair, “You’re a m-mess. You can f-fix yourself up in here, if you w-want.”

She visibly hesitated. Odin didn’t blame her; living on these streets, he could only wonder as to who she had come across trying to survive. He walked inside, waiting for the firecracker to step inside.

Her footsteps were quiet, like most of the slumdogs in the neighborhood, as to not attract attention, but she was so silent the only reason he knew she entered was the slight wind he got from her movements. She was hunched over slightly, her eyes flicking down the halls – she really was gorgeous – and she was looking for anybody who might hop out of the shadows.

“D-don’t worry,” he said aloud, and his voice made her jump. “W-what’s your name?”

She swallowed, pulling up her burnt collar, shuffling her blackened feet. “Ava,” she replied softly. He paused. Ava. It suited her, short and sweet.

“I-I’m Odin. You can s-stay here for a bit.” He ushered her down the hall, not touching her, as to not disturb her sensitivities, down to the medical room he had to clean his wounds, a small shower on the side to douse off any blood. Before he even considered cleaning her wounds, he yanked a fine linen towel off the shelf, handing it to her. “Y-you’re filthy,” he elaborated.

She puffed her cheeks out at him, but didn’t disagree.

After shutting the door, he heard the showerhead start, and he relaxed. Wandering the house, his sister’s approached him, carrying dresses, stockings, shoes, and many other articles of clothing. They left the clothes just inside the door of the medical room. They didn’t tell Odin how they knew she was here, and he didn’t ask.

Eventually Ava exited, bandages up her legs and arms. However, the small frilly and black dress she had fashioned over herself was oddly fitting. She tugged on it self-consciously.

“They’re so fancy,” she breathed, admiring the shoes she was wearing. Odin shrugged, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “Are you rich?” She asked in the sort of innocent way that he had forgotten.

“Yeah,” he answered steadily.

It took a minute for him to realize, but her cheeks were drawn in, her fingers thin as she stroked the velvet curtains. She was probably hungry, living off of the garbage in the street.

Odin had food brought in, much to her absolute delight. She wolfed down the food not even thinking about whether or not it was poisoned or drugged, and he was content that he got to her first. Taking a moment to relax, she sat on the couch in his office, where he sat silently, flicking through various paperwork. Even Mafia bosses had things to do.

“What do you want with me? She asked steadily, her voice quiet but determined. He glanced up, confused.

“N-nothing. You look l-like shit so I decided to get you a decent meal and a shower.”

“You think I’m a  _prostitute_ , old man?” Her tone was so severe, full of anger and hate and  _experience_  it made Odin almost snarl back at her.

“I’m trying to be n-n- _nice_  you crazy dwarf,” he replied, exasperated. “Now sit down and sleep or s-something, I have things to be doing.”

Her face was upset for a second, but it quickly relaxed as she curled up on the couch. It was only minutes before she was asleep, breathing short and shallow breathes. Odin only watched her for a minute, but then Raven sauntered in, violet lips crooked into a smirk.

“True love?” she remarked with a grin.

He snorted. “As if.” Sometimes she hit a little too close to the mark.

She rolled her shoulders, sitting on his desk. “Guess what?” He cocked an eyebrow. “I found out who assaulted your girlfriend last night,” she said, ignoring his protests. “I found something in her clothes after she showered, when I was sweeping the room making sure she didn’t plant a bug or anything.” Odin leaned back, lighting another cigarette.

She held up a fake nail, but it was easy to see who it belonged to. It shimmered green.

“Maggie Lacivi…” he murmured. When he’s first met her, she seemed like a powerful ally. As the days continued though, it became obvious she was in the business for other reasons, and the knife she pointed at Titan could just as easily flash over to him. He’d gotten rid of her quickly.

“It seems like our dear Mags was close to Ava back in the happy young days, but something went sour. Since then, she’s been m _istreatin_ g Ava, and the little girl can’t avoid someone with so many eyes like our green fig.” Raven almost looked amused. “I can only imagine how she survived Maggie, the Fire, and Titan all at the same time.” Her features softened, looking at the girl on the couch. “Are you gonna keep her?”

He shrugged. “Probably. I don’t want her out on the street, not when things are so tense. Besides, it’s obvious she’s only another kid.”

“If she was another kid, you wouldn’t have helped her out,” Raven argued, that old twisted smirk on her porcelain face. Odin scowled at her, but he had no effect. “Anyway, I just thought I’d tell you, just in case you wanted to pick a fight with old Maggie.”

“Why would I do that?” he asked. Maggie had all but avoided Odin since his men beat her little fairy folk in a gun fight awhile back.

Crow popped up from under the desk like a Cheshire cat. “Maybe because a little blackbird saw her dangling off the arm of Gilly?”

Gil, Titan’s go two guy for medical supplies. Odin’s eyebrows creased together. Things were becoming complicated, and far too quickly for his liking. Maggie’s people were stubborn, but they weren’t invincible. His Scavengers could cut them off quickly. He nodded toward his sisters; better to nip the problem at the bud.

He waved a hand and his sisters dissolved into the night like the birds they were named after. He would be up all night focusing on a game plan. He glanced over to Ava sleeping peacefully on the couch, her coarse face relaxed.

Or maybe he could wait for a bit.

Usually when someone stepped onto his stairs, they knew what they were getting into.

Ava didn’t, and she had still managed to win his trust.

He sat on the couch beside her, looking out the rain drenched window. Maybe those problems could wait until tomorrow. It was much more satisfying sitting next to Ava on a dark and stormy night.


	2. another absolutely old chum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is more of a quick drabble than anything

_AvaOdin headcannon where Ava is scared and Odin is just “ugh” and they’re holding hands and Odin tries to rescue his hand and Ava just tightens her grip and looks up at him and goes “if you fucking let go of my hand, you fucking lose your hand do you understand me” and Odin has never been afraid of something so tiny in his life_

 

 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like holding hands.

Honestly, he thought the whole idea was pretty romantic, fingers intertwined.

But he didn’t think so when a tiny hand was  _searing his skin off._

Ava was clutching his hand for dear life as the ship went through some turbulence, rocking and rattling. And every time she got scared she’d squeeze harder and heat up a little more. That was just plain painful, not something Odin needed in his life.

It was just a moment, as she was relaxing as the rocking died down. Her straightened his fingers and slid his hand back, trying to free his appendage from her hot iron grip.

Before he could even think again, her hand was secured on his, burning his skin and making him wince as her fingers started to squeeze. His eyes pricked with tears,  _holy hell she has a grip like a wild monkey_  he thought wildly.

Then, looking up, her fiery eyes and molten skin pinning him in place, she uttered in a low, gravelly voice “If you fucking let go of my hand, you fucking  _lose_  your hand.  _Do you understand me?_ ” He nodded frantically as her eyes bore into his, sparking magma behind her pupils, and she looked away.

He let out a breath of relief, but the ship shook again, and once again his hand was covered in that familiar burning sensation.


	3. ooh I remember I was excited when this capped over a hundred notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another little one... man these days I can't write a fic without it exploding into 20+ pages

Odin didn’t sleep much.

 

Senses honed from years of hunting and being in an unexplored area made him nervous. The TITAN vessel smelled clean,  _too_  clean. There was no twinge of sweet in the air from plants, or bitter tang of sap. There wasn’t even a waft of dust to make the place smell earthy. The ship smelled like TITAN,  _reeked_  of it. Acrid sanitizers and cold metal was the smell of TITAN’s territory, and Odin hated that he was trapped there.

Maggie was hogging most of the couch. Maggie - the monster and mystery. Sleeping on the chair was Gil, a classic TITAN worshipper. He was so devoted any information that might clash with what he was raised with would erupt a violent response from him – Ava proved that.

Ah yes, and Ava.

She was sleeping on the floor; her head leaned back against Maggie’s arm. Her hair looked like dark copper, and pooled around her waist and feet like blood. Her young face, so worn and tired, was illumined underneath the skin by magma shifting in her flesh. He could see bandages around random places, like her arms and legs, while deep gashes like scars were strewn around her neck and limbs. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, and her arms were limp at her sides.

She looked so small.

Odin could feel the tension in his face lessen at the sight of her. He didn’t know why, but something about her was familiar. Like the echo of a voice from the other room. He couldn’t understand the words, but they were there and calling to him.

Then,  _he_  appeared.

Like a wraith of violets and deep reds, he wafted through the air, three burning eyes glaring at Odin.

Odin pulled out his pipe, ready to smoke again if it muddled his sight for just long enough to get that bastard out of his sight, but to his surprise the tall ghost turned away from Odin and looked to Ava. He cocked his head, like a curious predator, and leaned down to look at her. He reached out a four fingered hand as though he was going to touch her face, but Odin’s deep voice leapt from his throat quicker than he could stop.

“ _S-S-Stay **away**  from her_.” His words were hard, and they bit like a cold wind.

The triclops spun on him, the three red eyes burning like dying stars and Odin held back the urge to flinch. They stared at each other, a torturer to victim.

Without explanation, the triclops looked back at Ava, almost longingly, and faded from Odin’s sight. He let out a breath of air he wasn’t aware he was holding, and when he looked back to Ava, he was surprised to see something gold trickling from her eyes like molten ore.

She was crying? But  _why_?

Once again, that feeling of  _desire_  and  _need_  plowed him in the chest, hard, but he didn’t know how to sate those urges.

Looking at Ava, he could almost smell something warm, like hot stone and dried herbs – smoke? The familiar feeling made unusual emotions bubble up inside of him, and swallowing both his apparent remorse and elation, he fell asleep to alien scents engraved in a memory not of his own.

As he slept, Pedri appeared just once more to watch Ava’s tears slowly drip down her face, leaving a gold streak behind them.

He could almost remember holding someone so close who cried those same tears.


	4. another drabble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man I did a million of these little ones huh

Odin had his right hand messily knotted in her hair, his fingers just trying to hold onto the slope of her head while his left hand was pressed against the bleeding gunshot, her blood scathing against his bare palm.

 

Ava’s breathing was shallow, but she was somehow alive. Her hair was draped around her, half damp in blood, as he pulled her halfway onto his lap. TITAN guards ran past them, screaming commands as they searched for them. She smelled like stone and herbs, but the scent was encroached with the smell of blood. It was a thick metallic smell that seemed to cut through the air, and Odin swallowed back the bad memories as he continued to hold the wound.

Finally, her eyes fluttered open. There was no sign of fire behind her pupils, or magma shifting under her skin. If anything, her complexion was ashen.

“W-W-What’d you do th-that for?!” he hissed lowly, both anger and relief fueling him.

She smiled at him, and it was such a faint gesture that his heart dropped at the sight of it.

“I told you,” she coughed, and it sounded painfully wet “I can’t die.” One of her hands reached out and jabbed him in the chest weakly, and he looked back down to her in confusion. “I don’t think you could have survived the shot,” she explained dimply, her eyelids loose and her sight wandering aimlessly around his face.

“Y-You’re not i-invincible, no one is.”

Ava shuddered then, and he yanked his hand back as the blood that pulsed from her stomach altered to lava, hot orange and bright golds rolling down her side. “Even if I wasn’t,” she replied a little quicker now, “I would have jumped in anyway…”

Odin stared at her tiny round face for a moment, almost dumbfounded, before his words found their way back and he demanded “Why?!”

“You’ve got family, sisters and parents,” she replied so softly in reply to his deep, harsh voice “and a home. People who would miss you.” Her smile twisted oddly, like she tasted something bitter. Her eyes went downcast as she looked to the side, her hands grasping the bronze key sneering on her collar. “I don’t have that.”

It felt like a blow to his chest as she turned back around and smiled, something so sweet and tired and  _frail_ , and before he could stop himself his arms squeezed her slightly. “D-Don’t say that,” he replied quickly, and he found his voice was trembling. “T-There’s-”  _there’s got to be somebody else who loves you I can’t stand to think of you as all alone in this world please say there’s someone else please_

Were those his thoughts? Or the violet wraith’s in front of him, all three of its burning eyes focused on Ava like she was a lifeline?

Ava simply shook her head, great thick locks of crimson hair shifting with the movement. “It’s ok,” she assured when his jaw stiffened and his hands twitched “I’ve got something to do, and that’ll suffice.” Before he could object she sat up, and he could see the magma on her stomach had smoothed out. She still flinched when she stood, and a line of blood rolled from the edge of her mouth. “C’mon,” she prodded. “Let’s leave.”

As she started walking, limping slightly as she clutched her side, Odin’s thoughts went somewhere secret and warm.

_I would miss you._


	5. drabble ala again

Ava glanced up to him, cocking her head slowly as crimson locks pooled over her shoulders. A few violet dragonflies landed on her head and flapped their wings lazily. Odin twitched.

“ _What_  about my hair?”

 

He leaned back in the seat, the cushion collapsing under the weight. They were lucky Crow and Raven pulled them from the crowd when they did. How his bratty sisters ever got a TITAN vessel he would never fathom. He didn’t even know how they found him.

“Y-Your hair needs b-brushing, it’s all knotted.”

She crossed her arms, looking away despondently, before one of her hands released its grip and weakly felt a lock of hair. Her shoulder sunk when she realized he was right – and her hair was filthy too, grime and dried blood giving it a hard consistency.

Odin sighed looking at her, getting up. Moments later he returned with a brush with a violet bow tied around it, his sister’s trademark. Crow would let him borrow it for now.

“H-Here,” he chided as he sat behind her and she tensed automatically “don’t m-move, I’ll get it.”

She was as quiet as she was still, her body like a statue except for the magma shifting under her skin. Odin almost wanted her to wiggle a little in her seat or flex her hands, but no. She stayed completely still, almost to the point that she didn’t seem to breathe. As good as he was with a brush, he was used to brushing his little sister’s crop-top hair, and not the cape of hair Ava had. When he came upon a giant snag at the crown of her head, she didn’t flinch while he clumsily tried to unknot it.

Without warning, something felt very wrong with his hands. They felt cold; detached. Looking down, he saw  _his_  hands had possessed his own, and Odin bit back a cry as the violet wraith controlled his every movement with the brush easily. He wouldn’t make a noise as he tried to gain control of his hands, but the effort he was putting into trying to gain control was exhausting him. Looking up, he saw his hands were brushing Ava’s hair out smoothly until it shimmered gold and ruby in the light.

“You’re good at this,” Ava commented quietly.

Odin’s entire body went rigid as his hands, possessed by that  _thing_ , unraveled the purple ribbon on his sister’s brush and wove it easily through Ava’s hair, tying it at the end.

With one last push,  _he_  was pushed from Odin’s mind and he heaved a relaxed breath. Ava stood up and spun around, her hair playing the lights beautifully and the ribbon tickling her knees. She giggled like a school girl and he watched on fondly as Ava ran her fingers through her hair and made her skirt float by spinning.

The ghost appeared once again, and Odin had to fight the instinct to glance the other direction. The triclops neared Ava with its arms outstretched, as though ready to envelope her. Ava, none the wiser, took another step to spin around, toward the wraith. Without thinking, he pulled her from nearing the ghost by her hand, and she stumbled into him.

“I – what is it, Odin?” Her features were soft, nothing like the spitfire he had argued with hours ago. She almost looked pretty; with her hair all tied back and a smile pulling her face up.

He looked away, pulling her with him. “N-Nothing. L-Let’s go get s-some food.”

He could feel the hand in his grasp heating up, almost to the point that it hurt, but he didn’t mind at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all still think it'll be a big deal when/if odin brushes ava's hair? I remember that being like.. a THING


	6. mind meeting drabble

Odin hated talking to Pedri.

 

He  _loathed_  their conversations. Odin would stay no longer then necessary, getting the information needed before creeping back into the corners of his mind.

His mind was dark, smoky even. He didn’t have far to explore, though, until he saw something bright and hot spark into his vision.

Next to the gallery paintings of his mind was a drawer. It was wooden, and the carving in it was sneering at him most maliciously, as though ready to swallow him whole. Lava seeped from the corners, gathering in a pool on the seemingly concrete floor under his black boots.

Looking at the bronze handle, he tugged on it lightly, just to see what was inside, but to his surprise the drawer shot open and warped like a gaping mouth just large enough to step into.

He hesitated for a moment, peering around the corner to see dusty wood and dim yellow light.

Odin looked back, towards his mind’s gallery. On one hand, he could just close the drawer and leave it. It was unexplored territory. But curiosity was stronger than instincts this time around and he stepped inside quietly, pulling his leather jacket tighter around his form.

His boots made a quiet thud against the dusty wood, and a small cloud formed where his heavy boots hit. The dust clung to his black pants. Looking up, there were drawers everywhere, with different bronze knobs and handles, all wood. He gave an experimental tug on one of them. They were all stuck, or maybe sealed shut. It was hard to tell as he pulled again, harder, but with no results.

He sighed, looking to either direction. One way led into total darkness, while the other led toward the gentle yellow light submerged in darkness. Odin rubbed the back of his head and began walking toward the small glimmering light.

He could see around himself, like there was a bubble of dim light accompanying him.

Eventually he saw something strange, like blocks. They looked like the playing letter blocks children would play with, and he spelled out what he saw aloud. “A – V – A. Ava?” He ran his fingers along the wood, and under the dust the letters were a glossy red. He dusted his hands off on his pants, looking up and around. “Th-This is Ava’s mind?” If that was the case, why was everything sealed shut, all the drawers closed and dust thick like a decade of stillness?

His feet bumped something as he circled, and he found a staircase that went up towards the light in the sky. He tripped a few times on the way up, eventually having to walk on all fours, dust coating his hands and knees. Because he was looking up, he didn’t notice the small objects under his hands until he planted his palms on them, and they dug sharply into his skin. He yanked his hands up to find a crayon rolling along the step, until it rolled off the stair and tumbled down. Looking back up there were a few other crayons, and pictures too, like the scribbling of a five year old.

The pictures weren’t of unicorns or flower fields though.

There was one world, scribbled over and over with the horrifying visage of a monster on every page. The word went from legible to written frantically, almost desperately.

**PACT**

Odin gathered the pages up and scoured over them, and it was the same word and the same image of this horned monster.

**_PACT PACT PACT PACT PACT_ **

He set the pages down, mumbling to himself “O-Oh Ava…” He hadn’t realized how alike they were. Or just how much she must have suffered as a child, just as he did.

He continued stumbling up the steps until he came to a drawer, fairly elevated and glowing significantly. He could hear breathing; that must have been Ava. He clambered clumsily up the handles of the drawers until he was able to wrench himself up onto the glowing drawer. Something singed his fingers. His arms burned as he pulled himself upward, and when he finally saw someone over the edge. It was not Ava.

It was an alien, or a demon, or something. Its dark red hair was pulled over the edge of the drawer, and its skin was flaring brightly like the magma it was submerged in. Dark horns curled from its scalp down around its ears and brushed its cheeks.

He forgot to stay quiet.

“Y-Y-You’re not Ava.”

Its eyes snapped open, and they were a furious crimson surrounded by a scathing gold. Its pupils were elongated and they stretched as it snapped its head around to snarl at him, its skin becoming brighter than the lava pool, and darkly clawed hands shot out from the molten slag to clamp around his throat. Its fingers burned worse than fire; the sear seemed to seep into his flesh and scorch his bone.

“Who the  _hell_  are you?” The voice was feminine, at least, and the figure stood, still a hand clamped around his neck as he dangled precariously above at least a flight of stairs. His hands clawed at her arms, but he was hurting himself more than her.

“I’m O-Odin,” he choked as his lungs seemed to shrink in his chest.

Her eyes narrowed, sharp canines peeking out from a sneer. “Ah yes, Maggie’s stalker. I remember you.”

“W-We’ve never met,” he snapped, and his hands squeezed on her wrist. She grinned suddenly, pulling him almost close enough to smell her breath and dip his feet into the lava under him.

“Oh yes we have,” she cooed, a sharp metallic tinge to her voice. “I called you a  _coward_ , remember?”

He grit his teeth, glaring at her, before realization made his eyes widen and his jaw go slack. “W-Wait, then you’re-”

Before he could voice what he thought, the creature released her grip and he fell, the brightness of the slag and the old wooden drawers blurring his vision. He tensed for the hit when he would no doubt snap his spine on the stairs, or maybe he would wake up, but before he could even fall another foot something snagged on his arm and he whiplashed so suddenly he felt his shoulder twist in pain.

“I gotchya!”

Looking up he saw the young face of Ava, and her hand was hooked around his forearm. She pulled him up easily, onto another drawer, and he coughed and groaned as he sat doubled over. His fingers probed this neck, and it didn’t feel damaged skin level, but his throat felt raw and stung. He felt Ava pat his back slowly, before she yelled upwards “Stop  _torturing_  people!”

He heard the thing reply “He walked in on my while I was bathing!”

Ava yelled back, her hand cupped around her mouth “You’ve been naked since we made a pact, don’t be dramatic!”

He coughed, and looked up. That was Ava’s pact demon? That was her equivalent of Pedri? Looking back down, breathing in a hoarse breath, he thought that this demon and Pedri would probably get along well.

“Never mind,” Ava spat, and she turned back to Odin, sympathy softening her features. “How did you get here?”

He sat up, dusting his hands off on his black pants once more. “I f-found a drawer, in m-my mind… I followed it, a-and came here.”

She rolled her eyes, sighing. “So I guess you must have a pact with a demon,” she mumbled “if you can get into my head and all…” He swallowed thickly. His throat suddenly felt more numb than sore from Ava’s demon. “Who’s your pact-spirit?”

It took him three times to respond, each time his voice quieter. “…H-H-His name’s P-Pedri.”

There was a noise like a scream, but when Odin clamped his hands over his ears to stop it he realized this wasn’t the sort of noise he could protect himself from. Suddenly he was slammed into the nearest drawer, his back protesting from the doorknob it was shoved against.

Ava’s demon had her hands on his shoulders, her fingers squeezing into his coat. “You have Pedri? Three eyes, skull mask, carries around a scythe?”

He swallowed, the brightness of this demon’s face hurting his eyes. When he blinked there were dancing shadows in his lids. “I-I don’t know about the s-scythe-”

Ava shoved her hands between them and pushed her demon off of him, and he would have thanked her if he wasn’t so busy groaning from the pain in his back. “ ** _Enough, Wrathia!_** ” Ava’s voice was far sharper than her demon’s. Looking up, he saw Ava’s form was burning red, and her eyes were blacker than the pit of a grave at midnight. Claw marks along her arms were burning brightly, and the drawers around them started to creak open, lava bubbling over and pouring down the wood.

Ava didn’t say anything else. She simply glared, and her scowl was enough to make his blood run cold, even if she wasn’t looking at him. Wrathia glared right back at her, and after a few tense moments, magma filling up the room, Wrathia looked away.

Ava seemed to relax slightly, the drawers clamping shut and her skin looking human again.

The demon was holding her forearms with clawed hands, the melted slag of her body churning slowly under her skin. “He is my husband,” and the words were spoken with an inkling of regret and loneliness. Ava glanced back to Odin once, before groaning and helping the battered host up.

“C’mon Odin, I’ll lead you back to your mind. You come too Wrathia.” The demon perked up then, something like a grin showing too many white teeth as she wrapped her burning arms around Ava.

“I knew you weren’t stupid enough to keep us apart,” the creature replied happily. Ava was silent, not at all paying attention as she felt the recesses of her mind.

They came upon a picture, the frame the carved shape of arrows and the picture itself vacant, showing a path into Odin’s mind. In the doorway was Pedri. He had heard Wrathia’s scream of joy.

Odin watched as the couple felt along the boundaries of Ava’s mind and his, speaking sweet love to one another and so overjoyed to see the other again. He turned to Ava, but she was already walking away. “H-Hey,” he called out, and she cocked her head. “A-Aren’t you gonna talk to h-him?”

She looked past him for a moment, before replying brusquely “I’ve got no stomach for such things.” Odin followed her to where she sat on one of her drawers, the wood clattering quietly to her discomfort.

“Wh-What do you mean?”

She leaned back, letting out a tense breath. “All my life I’ve been tortured by her, made to believe she was some sick monster of my subconscious, and knowing she was the epitome of  _bad_ , I just…” She ran her fingers through her thick hair, and it was like a curtain around her face. “Seeing her happy with somebody makes her a person, like you or me, who had friends, and…” She drew up the backs of her knees to lean her forehead on. “I don’t know,” she murmured, “I’m not making any sense.”

Odin drew his arm around her shoulders and sighed. “No, y-you are.”

They sat in silence until the world dissolved into silver lights, and Odin blinked to see the ceiling of the TITAN ship they had stolen. His hand felt warm, but his arm was numb as though he had been in that position for a while. Glancing to the side, he could see his hand was intertwined in Ava’s.

She wasn’t awake yet.

He didn’t bother moving his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of what-if fics about ava's and odin's minds clashing, so, you're gonna see this theme a lot  
> I remember the theme here was how uncomfortable it was to see an abuser have friends and loved ones, boyo this was the tip of the iceburg for me


	7. oh this one kinda ended up canon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when everyone was hoping that ava would eventually light odin's pipe? its been 84 years....

Odin shuffled around his pockets for the pipe he carried around in such dedication, relaxing when his fingers brushed the wooden surface.

 

Ava sat next to him as they waited for the TITAN guards to pass them.They were sitting behind a few empty garbage bins, and they still smelled eerily sanitized like the rest of TITAN HQ. She watched in avid attention as he notched the pipe between his teeth and felt around his pockets.

The silence was taken up by his irritated groans as he emptied his pockets and found them vacant.

“What’s the matter?”

He replied with a noncommittal noise, waving his cold pipe in the air. “N-Nothing. Keep qu-quiet.” As if on cue, a few more guards, clad in silvers and snow blue armor, sprinted past them close enough for Ava to smell the polish on their suits and the hot energy pulsing in their firearms. After a moment of silence, the last of the guards had passed by and they both let out a breath of relief.

Ava stared at Odin for moment, and he looked… tired. Worn out, like he never actually slept all those hours on the ship. Maybe he didn’t.

“Can you light your pipe?” He blinked, as though startled that she was sitting next to him, before shaking his head slowly, almost cautiously. He must’ve lost his matches. His eyes flashed indigo again as she scooted over to him, careful not to stand up past the eye-line of the dumpsters they hid behind.

Ava tried to steady her breathing and held out her hand, shuddering at the sight of herself. She tensed up automatically as she saw the molten slag shifting up the flesh of her arm, heating her fingers and illuminating her bones. She could almost see magma like tendrils of veins traveling up her arm into tight clusters on the pads of her fingers. She felt sick looking at it.

“Wh-What’re you doing?” She hissed at him to be quiet, before turning back to her alien flesh and taking a deep breath.

Snapping her fingers once, the friction caused a flame to dance at the edge of her fingers, far hotter than any match or mechanical lighter. If Odin was surprised, he made a good job of hiding it, his eyebrows betraying him only by the pucker between them as they furrowed.

She lowered her fingers to the pipe, and he tensed from the closeness of the flame to his face. She lowered her fingers into the pipe, and she felt the innards of the wooden tube ignite. Slowly, she pulled her hand back and blew her fingers out like a candle. A few wisps of smoke filtered off her fingers, and it took her a moment to realize how close Odin and herself had come distance-wise as she was lighting his pipe.

His flashing eyes were focused on her, and her alone as she backed away and sat next to him once more. He looked like he was going to say something, and then decided against it, looking away as violet smoke curled from his mouth like spider silk. When he turned back to her, his face was flushed an odd hue, like his blood rushed to his face too quickly.

“…Th-Thanks.”

She nodded, curling in on herself, resting her head on the backs of her knees. This place was so strange, and cold. She didn’t miss Wrathia’s torment, but she didn’t realize how alone she would feel without the flame wraith deconstructing her every word and movement like a hot whip to her thoughts. This world was icy. TITAN world was even cool to the  _touch_ , and the grid like plates under her pulsed coldly, to the point that she shivered at the feel of it.

She heard Odin shift next to her and there was suddenly a gush of warmth leaning against her, and she bit back a cry as she automatically shrank back. “S-Sit still,” he chided, looking away “it’s c-cold out here.” She sat as still as a statue as he leaned against her, and she could scarcely feel the cold panels under her from the warmth that surged to her face.

“Ok,” she squeaked, looking away. Ava should have probably considered how cold Odin must’ve been without his coat, but he was warming up quickly enough by sitting next to her burning skin. She pulled her cascades of crimson hair over her shoulder, leaning against her knees. Odin could see the alien blood that shifted under her human skin, the lava that drifted up her neck and pooled around her face. Her eyes shimmered gold and ruby, her hair blocking out anything behind her like a blood red cape.

She would never know it, but Odin had never seen Ava as being a beautiful creature until that second.

He awkwardly patted her shoulder, and she craned her neck to shoot a timid smile his direction, the violet smoke curling around her face like a picture frame.

They sat next to each other, two souls lost in a sea of unfamiliar blue, yet so complete together.


	8. that one 60s-ish au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god i remember when I posted this to ffnet when I still wrote crap about ponies and vampires. blast from the PAST

Ava swallowed nervously, looking to her left. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, the pink frill only visible on her dark red skirt that fluffed by her skinned knees. Her feet pointed toward each other uneasily, the black shoes shining oddly in the light. Her face was ducked into her collar, her crimson hair spilling over her shoulders.

Parallel to her was a young man, his black hair greased back with a single curl rebelling against the curve of his mane. He was adorned with a black leather jacket, studs gleaming brightly on his shoulders. His pants were as black as his coat, his sharp shoes with iron tops clicking the ground. The back of his jacket had the image of a spear tip surrounded in flames, the word “ARROW” printed in a fantastic lettering.

 

Ava would have dearly liked to run away, her fingers slowly closing around the spines of the books that she pressed to her chest, but the greaser’s hands were on either side of her.

“Th-The name’s Odin,” he introduced to her, his deep voice making her swallow hard. “A-Also, my f-face is this way.” Ava was still looking the other way, and when she forced herself to look into the face of her captor she was greeted by a pair of striking indigo eyes, softer than those she saw from the far side of the classroom.

“Ava,” she squeaked back, wishing the brick wall behind her would swallow her up.

“I kn-know  _your_  name,” he replied smoothly. His eyes seemed to flash in an odd way, like the luminescent pupils of a fox in the night. His left hand detached itself from the wall and he shuffled through his pockets, pulling out a cigarette and a match. He wedged the cigarette between his teeth, and with a jerk and the flick of his wrist he lit the match on the edge of his zipper before leaning his face forward into the match, shrinking the distance between the two of them.

Ava couldn’t tell if she was breathing, the blush pumping up her cheeks so hard her face physically burned. She somehow found her words. “Then why  _are_ you here?” To her credit, her voice didn’t tremble, but that just seemed to spur Odin on more. He exhaled once, to his left, and the smoke wafted upwards in violet tendrils. He kept the cigarette between his fingers.

“Th-there’s a bangin’ p-party at Lacivi’s tonight,” he replied. His voice was smooth to the point that Ava didn’t even notice his stutter. “In-Invitation only. Thought y-you’d like to come.”

“Maggie Lacivi?” He nodded, leaning against his own shoulder to study her face. His expression was soft, so different from the sharp edged person she saw in the opposite corner of the classroom that put his feet up at his desk and sharpened his pencils with a knife. This Odin almost looked handsome, with his hair slicked back and his features yielding to the contrasting sunlight around his pale face. She had to look away, her eyes going down to her feet. “I… can’t.” She heard him inhale sharply. “I would like to,” she continued hurriedly “but Maggie doesn’t like me. She hasn’t for a while.”

“So?” He sounded lazily confident, like a cobra. Slow moving, but quick when he needed to be.

She somehow drew her face in closer to herself, Ava’s chin touching her collarbone. “She’ll hurt me if I go.”

Suddenly, his hand was under her chin and pulling her face up to meet his. She hadn’t realized how close he was until she could smell the oddly sweet smoke on his breath and the tang of his cologne. “Wh-What she doesn’t kn-know won’t h-hurt you.” His hand was rough, calloused, but his fingers were gentle as they traced along her jaw-line and brought her face closer to his. She couldn’t move her fingers so tight around the binding of her books that her nails bit into the covers.

A loud honk made Odin snap around to look at a jet black car adorned with wicked flames, the driver’s two girls with leather jackets and tight skirts. “Hey buff,” one of them called out “you can flirt with your bunny later, we’ve got trouble with the fuzz!” Odin cursed under his breath, and Ava found herself thanking the mystery Arrows for her lungs. She must have held her breath the entire time he was leaning into her.

“Wh-Which one of you f-finked to the police?” Both the girls pointed at each-other. He cursed again, muttering “Tr-Trouble twins, the both of them…” his gaze focused back onto Ava, and before she could say anything he slipped a card into the front of her dress, pecking a kiss on her cheek simultaneously. Ava squeaked, and she felt her hair go on end. “S-See  _you_  at the party.”

He bolted for the car, where the two other Arrows were whooping loudly, and when he clambered inside, he gave a deep bow to Ava while they sped down the street, leaving a screeching noise in their wake and foul smelling smoke hissing from tire marks on the asphalt.

Ava stood there in a daze for a moment, blinking owlishly before scrambling to pull the card out of the front of her shirt. It read “Call me for a ride –Odin” and a phone number. She swallowed hard, sliding down the wall and patting her face to rub the blush away.


	9. the Mythology AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was like, my first semipopular fic I think? navadraw even did a pic for it on twitter and that was a wild morning, the whole phoenix/reaper thing was a popular trope between these nerds for a while

He sat alone by the tree, sighing to himself while thickly calloused fingers flipped through his journal aimlessly. The hood on his cloak was pulled over his head as he fingered through his old entries. His scythe sat propped up against the tree, blade glimmering in the light.

Being a reaper wasn’t exactly a popular job. But it wasn’t like he needed company in the first place.

 

Sitting in the forest was company enough, even if the wildlife wouldn’t come near him. Light filtered through the tree leaves, leaving spots of gold and emerald light around him. The grass under him had long since yellowed from being in his presence for too long, and the tree he was leaning on was beginning to crack and die as well.

He sighed, idly scribbling in his journal.

A distant bird whistled a tune sweetly, and he paused to listen. The song was pretty, and he didn’t hear birds sing often, so he sat in silence, listening. It was peaceful.

Then, the smell came.

It was the scent of death, thick and pungent, contrast to the sweet smells of sap and leaves. He snapped his journal shut, slipping it into his pocket, and he grabbed his partner from the tree. The scythe sung better than any mocking bird, especially when it swung downwards to finish the life of a dying creature and retrieve its soul. The noise was sharp, but musical, and Odin thought about what the scythe’s song would sound like as they walked to collect the next soul.

As Odin walked, the grass behind his liquid movements wilted and browned, the animals shying away and the wind ceasing as he prowled the area.

He finally found the dying creature, its body half in the river. It looked like a bird, but much too pretty. The feathers sparked like flames, and its mottled skin was like shifting magma. Its beak looked like it was crafted from bronze. Its eyes were shining like the most perfect rubies. Nearing it, he could see a hunter’s arrow was straight through its stomach, golden blood slowly spreading across the grass and dripping with a hiss into the nearby river. The grass its blood touched was burning black.

It let out a pitiful call, and it sounded like jeweled screams. Odin leaned down gently and cooed it quietly, setting his scythe down. He couldn’t possibly collect this creature’s soul. He had never seen a bird so magnificent. “I-It’s alright,” he stuttered, placing a hand on the arrow. The avian shifted, flames dancing on the edge of its pinfeathers, and before he could think twice he violently yanked the arrow out.

The creature screamed once, limbs flailing in agony, before its body went limp and it settled into the grass. Odin sighed, looking at the arrow. It was scorched almost to the point that it was breaking in half, but he tucked it into his cloak, his other hand reaching down to stroke the creature.

Before his fingers could brush its wilting feathers or stroke its brilliant beak, the entire corpse combusted into ashes with a great clap like thunder and a column of fire reaching into the sky. He held a hand in front of his face, stuttering in confusion, when the ashes shifted like a spiraling whirlwind. He took a step backwards, fingers fumbling for his partner, as the ashes and fire began to compress into itself, spiraling quicker and tightly. Odin’s fingers curled around the handle of the scythe and he pointed it at the compressing sphere of fire and ash in hopes of some intimidation.

The sphere  _exploded_.

Odin was sent flying backwards on his back, his partner flying from his hands and clattering to the ground. He rubbed his head, his hood blasted down from his head, and he muttered angrily “Wh-What the  _h-hell_ -” until he looked up.

The pillar of fire was gone, and in its place was a girl. Her skin was almost bronze in complexion, but he was slag shifting under her skin. Her hair was as red as blood, and it parted neatly at the top of her head and draped down her shoulders like a cape. The girl had wings, shifting and flaming, leaving sparks as they shifted on her back and nearly brushed the ground. Feathers, just as bright as the ones on her wings, traced along her jaw-line into her hair, a few feathers attached with violet ribbon like a crown on her head. Her dress was a rich yellow, like the newly unfurled petals of daises. She wasn’t wearing any shoes.

Her eyes snapped open, burning with life, as she doubled over and gasped for air. She coughed a few moments before putting her hands on her head and shaking, mumbling. “That’s never comfortable.” Her voice was sweet, but sharp, like the killing shriek a hawk gives before pouncing onto a rabbit. She turned to face him, and a neat smile curled her features. “Ah, hullo! Thank you for pulling that arrow out of me.”

It took Odin a moment to start speaking, and when he did, he didn’t exactly sound profound. “I – wh-what, what  _are_  y-you, weren’t a d-dead bird-?”

She glided over to where he was half splayed on the ground, and he tried to craw backwards as she nearly perched above him. “I’m not a bird, I’m a  _phoenix_.”

“A  _what_.”

She rolled her eyes, drumming her hands along her knees. “A phoenix. Magical, immortal apex predator of the skies!” She curled her hands like claws and made a small hissing noise at him. She looked more like a kitten than a bird of prey.

He scooted away, trying to sit up as he pulled his dark cloak closed. “I-Immortal?”

She nodded, great thick locks of crimson hair dancing with the movement. “I can’t die. Well, I can, but I always come back.” She glanced back to where the ground was scorched in circular spirals. “Sorry about the light show back there. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Turning back, she held out a hand, smiling again. “My name’s Ava!”

He stared at the hand a moment, before slowly taking her small fiery palm into his. “…Odin.”

Suddenly, her hand tightened around his. “Your hands are so cold,” she commented, looking up at him with those eyes of burning life and he looked away, pulling his hand back.

“Y-Yeah.” He pulled his hood back over his head, leaning down to grab his scythe. As he lifted it he turned to talk to her, probably about how she wouldn’t see him again considering his position, when he found she was nowhere in sight.

“Oh, so you must be a reaper.” He looked up to see her perching on the blade of his partner, magma fingers tracing along the dull edge. “That explains your cold hands.”

Odin jerked the staff and she swung down off of the blade, but caught herself and glided around him twice before waving at him. “I’ll see you later, Odin!” He stared as her form shifted, shining like lights on a lake, her arms mending into her wings and her hair cresting into hot feathers. She sang to him for a moment, her phoenix form singing far sweeter than any bird, and far warmer than his partner.

After she was far out of sight in the forest, he finally waved back.

OOOOO

It wasn’t like he was waiting for her to visit.

Because he wasn’t.

The tree he was leaning against had already finished dying a few hours ago, the bark shriveled and the wood soured. The patch of grass was far past dead, no remains of the green blades, only dry dirt. Odin sighed, running a cold hand through his hair as he started to scoot to get up.

“Wow, does everything die around you?”

He looked up just in time to see her form swing down and her face almost brush his. Her knees were hooked around a branch and she waved, even though they were inches apart. “Hullo again!” Her wings were tight to her back as not to whack him, and her crimson hair was like a cape blocking what was behind her as she swung upside down.

He pulled back automatically, and hit his head on the tree. “ _Yeowch_ ,” she commented, bringing her hands to her face. He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head and she reached out as though to grab his face and inspect it. He once again evaded. “Hey, I’m not trying to eat you or anything you old nerd,” she bit “just lemme see.” Odin went rigid as her tiny warm hands pulled his head forward, looking at the crown of his head. Her hair tickled his nose. “Just a bump. Good thing too, or else we’d have to find a reaper to reap you.”

He cleared his throat, looking to the side. He hadn’t realized how cold he was until she had her hands clamped around his or her fingers probing his head.

“This conversation is pretty one sided,” she commented as he pulled his hood up. “Why are you pulling that back on?”

“I d-don’t like it when p-people can see me,” he responded darkly, his fingers tightening around the handle of his scythe.

“Well,” she responded “I like your hair, c’mon.” she reached out to pull his hood down, and he grabbed her hands and pushed them away. “Don’t be- come on-” They struggled for a moment, her small and quick hands trying to twist from his iron grasp, his hood bobbing as though taunting her. “Don’t be stubborn-”

The branch was not as stubborn as Odin or Ava was, and it snapped.

She fell in a heap on his lap, fiery feathers scattered around him as he was  _completely stiff._  She grumbled, leaning to get up, when she realized she was not only far too close to him, but on his lap.

They sat in absolute silence for a long thirty seconds.

Odin swallowed slowly. Her hands were on his knees, and they were flooding with warmth. He had never come in contact with something that wasn’t dying before, and she was warm and alive and  _completely splayed out on his legs_ -

Lightening fast, she reached out and yanked his hood down before kicking off with her feet into the air, her wings unfurling as she hooked her hands onto a living branch. “I got your hood off!” She called out, grinning. Her cheeks were even brighter than before, burning with a blush.

Odin grit his teeth so he wouldn’t smile and stood up, fingers curling around the scythe as he chased after her. “I-I-I’m gonna k-kill you-!”

“I won’t stay deeaad!”

“A-All the more reason to!”

OOOOO

“Do you always write in that journal?”

He nodded as she had her arms sitting on his head, her legs draped over his shoulders. Her fingers played with his hair, curling it in her warm fingers. He was almost used to her touching him.

“What do you write in it?”

“…things I’ve k-killed, things I’ve s-seen…” His pencil was dulling. Pulling out a small knife he began sharpening the edge until he could see lead through the wood.

“Did you write about me?”

He hesitated briefly, before scribbling down a few more things, putting away the knife. She didn’t press him about it, but he could feel the palms of her hands against his head rise a few degrees. “…y-yeah.”

“That’s nice,” she replied, and he wished he could see her molten face. She felt warmer, and her voice seemed softer.

“Y-You’re not… g-grossed out…by what I am?” She slipped off of his shoulders and he instantly missed the warmth she provided. She cocked her head at him, eyes blinking in an avian style. She was wearing violet today, a lavender skirt with a matching ribbon woven through her hair.

“What do you mean?”

Odin pulled his hood up – it made him feel secure when other things couldn’t see him – before answering. “I k-kill things. Th-that’s what I  _d-do_. Aren’t y-you d-d-disgusted?”

The grass where her bare feet touched started to smoke a little, and she beat her wings to hover over to him and not touch the ground. “…Do you mind that I burn everything?”

He blinked, looking up. “Wh-What?” She was looking away, hovering mid-air with her hands crossed across her chest. The sunlight danced on her wings and shoulders, making it seem like she had little flames swimming on her.

“When I touch things,” she replied meekly “I burn them. That doesn’t make you uncomfortable?”

Odin stood up, looking dusting his cloak off. “I’ve n-never noticed.”

“That’s because you’re cold, and I can’t burn you. That’s why I’m always touching your hands, and stuff…” She looked incredibly extinguished, even the shifting slag under her skin and the spark of fire at her wingtips seemed ashen. “It’s nice to touch someone and not hurt them.”

He stared at her for a moment, before rubbing his neck and looking away. “I k-know how that feels.”

Then they were back where they started, dull indigo eyes on bright ruby.

And once again, they reached out and held hands, her small warm fingers curling around his sturdy cold one’s.

“My name’s Ava Ire,” she giggled weakly, seeing the resemblance to their first meeting.

“M-My name’s Odin Arrow,” he replied with a semblance of a chuckle lacing his voice. She pulled herself closer to him on his hand, until she had her arms around his shoulders.

“Arrow? Is that your last name?”

He relished the warmth that came from her fingertips. “I-I got it from y-you.” Ava was half leaning against him, her crimson tresses were draped over his shoulder, and even they were warm. “Wh-When I met you.” The arrow was still in his cloak.

“So here I am, getting you a last name and stuff to write about, and all you give me is  _cuddles_.” His arms were wrapped around her torso, and he could feel the touch of her feathers. They were hot, but they didn’t burn.

He gave her a wicked smirk, setting his scythe aside and tightening his arms around her. “I-I could give you a  _lot_  more th-than cuddles.”

OOOOO

They sat together, propped up on a long dead tree. She sat in his lap, her wings tight to her back so she could lean on his chest as they flipped through his journal. She remarked once in a while about how impressive of an artist she was, but she mostly just held her hands on his knees on either side of her or he would hold his arms around her. His scythe sat, glimmering against the sunlight.

Being a reaper wasn’t exactly a popular job. But at least he had company.


	10. d-d-d-drabble involving fear and growing up

“Ava?”

“Hmn?”

“I g-get afraid of you sometimes.”

 

Ava sat up, confusion and concern painting her features. “What?”

Odin was still sitting idly next to her, chewing on the edge of his pipe. They had been watching clouds, ones that were more pink than white thanks to the amount of iron in this planet’s atmosphere, and sitting on grass that felt more like fur than plant. The violet tendrils of smoke that surrounded his form reminded Ava of Absolem the caterpillar from Alice and Wonderland.

“Th-That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he continued, indigo eyes glancing her direction before looking back up at the sky.

“You said it like it was.”

“It isn’t. Th-There’s times when you get angry-”

Ava instantly stiffened and turned around, hunching over her knees and focusing on the clouds so acutely the lava under her skin surged at the effort.

“-hear m-me out a moment.”

Ava was quiet, and her shoulders drooped before she asked “Can’t we talk about something else?”

“I th-think you need to hear this,” he replied gently, sensing her anxiety in talking about her emotional power. He put a hand on her red-clad shoulder, and she turned slowly to look at him. After a moment of staring at the other, Ava finally released the breath she was holding and turned her body, shifting her legs on the alien grass, so she was pointed at him.

“I get sc-scared sometimes when you’re angry. Th-That’s not easy for me to s-say.” Ava’s eyes softened in appreciation that he would put his pride aside to talk to her. “When you get an-angry, you change. You become this… u-unstoppable force that can s-stop anything in your path.”

“I can’t stop  _everything_ ,” she interjected.

“I-I’ve seen you fight, Ava.” She slumped again, looking towards her feet. “And I just w-want you to know…” He paused. “I want you to kn-know…” He trailed off, and Ava looked up at him to be greeted by  _him_  looking uncomfortable, by Odin looking away with a flustered expression.

“Odin?” He didn’t respond, instead his face was coloring violet hues from – something. “Want me to know what? Odin?”

He finally spun around and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking back at the sky. “ _Th-Th-That’s fine_ ,” he blurted.

Ava blinked from the sudden loudness of his voice and his body language. “What?”

“It-It-It’s fine! Th-That you become that. I l-like that part of you too. It’s f-fine.” Ava’s eyes widened and she felt fire spark under her cheeks and her heart beat violently in chest, the cage of her ribs keeping it from leaping out of her abdomen. “So st-stop worrying about it. I l-like anything you become.”

“I – oh.  _Uhm_.” Ava wasn’t sure what to say, and she twiddled her fingers in a mess of thought –  _did he just say he liked me, what kind of like did he mean, was that like a like like or like a like only like or **what**_  – until Odin suddenly pulled her next to him and tried to look confident  _and failed_  as he carefully placed an arm around her shoulders.

She looked up to his scruffy features and almost laughed at how stressed and violet his face had become with his own blush intensifying. “Hey Odin?”

He grunted in reply, still actively staring at the sky.

“That’s fine.” She felt the tension in his arms lessen, and something resembling a relieved giggle exit Odin’s face before he tried to smother it with his usual cool mask.

They were silent for a little while, staring into the alien sky side by side, before Odin piped up again.

“Plus, you look pretty hot wh-when you beat people up.”

Ava smacked his arm.


	11. the delivery job AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at like 2 am and it shows, I only know this because I put it in the description on tunglr lmao

Odin didn’t like delivering food.

 

To be fair, he was only going to have this job for a week, tops – it was just a cushion until his family’s store kickstarted – but he still didn’t like it. Fast food was greasy, and the texture on his fingers made him wince. Luckily, he was just a delivery boy.

He didn’t wear the uniform, not really. He wore the t-shirt of “Momma’s Munch” but it would be a cold day in  _hell_  when he wore the jacket and hat.

Glancing back down to the address, he realized it was a dorm from the same collage he was going to. TITANIA’s college of the arts – it wasn’t really an art college, as it was also well known for its scientific studies, but it had plenty of varied art classes and the name was popular.

He counted himself lucky that he knew the grounds so well, and double-checking the address, he tentatively knocked on the door, identical to the others next to it.

With the amount of food, he was expecting some big burly football player. Instead, he was greeted with a girl – barely five feet tall, with a mass of brown hair that would put his sisters to shame. She was wearing a massive t-shirt and bunny slippers, and he forgot that it must’ve been almost midnight.

“Uh,” he glanced down to the receipt “a l-large pizza, drink, and two b-boxes of breadsticks?”

“That’s me,” the girl responded groggily with a weak smile. She looked tired, and he couldn’t blame her. This college was tough.

“Th-That’ll be 23.99,” he repeated in his usual monotone voice, and she handed him two twenties. He was about to shuffle through his pockets, but she put a hand up.

“Keep the change,” she assured, and took the cargo into her arms. “Thanks, have a good one,” she showed in appreciation, before shutting the door with her foot.

Odin wasn’t expecting someone to be that generous. Altogether, maybe doing the whole food business thing wasn’t all that bad.

He got a text from his boss.

“ _I need you to clean the bathrooms_.”

He took it back.

OOOOOO

Odin got used to delivering food to the campus. Apparently his little fast food joint was cheap enough and close enough that plenty of college student would vie for a bite. Considering he actually went to the college during the day, his boss gave him the job of making all the deliveries over there.

He got a weird order. He glanced at the receipt several times. It was an order of their special – a large slice of chocolate cake, a super-max energy soda, and a salad. He once again clambered out of his old van and sauntered up onto campus, once more knocking on an identical door.

 _Once again_ , he was greeted by that brown haired girl. She was rubbing her eyes – they were bright red, he hadn’t noticed that before – and they were puffy too. She was also still wearing school clothes, blotched with paint and patched in places. She turned and rubbed her face again before forcing a smile. “Uhm, hi again…”

He realized he was staring and cleared his throat. “Uh, h-hi. Anyway,” he relayed the order to her, and she once again gave him a little too much and asked for no change.

“Thanks for delivering so late at night,” she thanked, even with her puffy eyes and tissues in one hand.

“N-No problem,” he stuttered before she closed the door with a polite smile. As he walked to his car, he stopped on the middle of the asphalt and looked up at the sky.

“Damn. I d-didn’t even g-get her name.”

OOOOO

The very next night, she ordered again. This time, it was just a salad and a water.

He was prepared at the door. She opened it, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and once again her clothes splotched with paint. There were bags under her eyes though, and her voice sounded more tired than usual.

He was prepared.

She cracked a small, albeit tired, smile. “Hey, this is weird.  _Again_ , huh? Well, I think the order came out to-”

“Odin,” he blurted. She looked startled, wide ruby eyes blinking. “M-My name’s Odin,” he tried to rectify.

“Ava,” she replied. “My name’s Ava.” She paused, pulling a lock of hair back over her shoulder. “…Do you deliver a lot at night?”

“Y-Yeah,” he replied slowly, rubbing his gristly face, an idle movement. “W-Well, here’s your order…” They had exchanged names. That was a step.

“Thanks again, Odin,” and her voice spoke of her gratitude. After closing the door, he pumped his fist through the air.

“I g-got a name,” he repeated to himself through the night.

OOOOO

Finally, he was out of that crappy fast food job and into his own family’s food business.

Where he was once again a delivery boy.

But, at least he was running on his own time, as much of a hard-ass that Olai was. He was delivering… another salad. But this time it wasn’t saturated with grease, and Odin was thankful for that.

He came to an upper level of the dorms, and knocked nonchalantly at the door. There was the sound of a lock unhinging – and he could hear loud music. There was a conversation just outside the door.  _“Awh, are you leaving now?”_

“ _Yes,_ now _, I’m taking my food and going back to my dorm, text me about your weird boyfriend later_.”

The door opened, and Ava nearly ran into him. She blinked in surprise, her features mimicking his own. “Odin?”

“A-Ava?”

She turned and closed the door behind her. “Wow, this is really weird. I thought you worked for-”

“I q-quit,” he interrupted. “Wh-what’re you doing up here?”

She rolled her eyes and handed Odin the exact amount of change for once. “One of my friends, Maggie?” He nodded – he knew her from one of his classes. “She always drags me over to her place when she gets a new boyfriend.” He followed her as she began walking over to her dorm. “I mean, I know her roommate Tuls deals with her boy-hopping well enough, but I can’t stand more than a few minutes.”

“My sister’s d-do that too,” he sympathized as they walked down the concrete stairs. “It-It’s always about another b-boy talking to them, or another p-pretty girl in class. Ugh.”

Ava laughed a little, coming up to her dorm. “Sign here,” he guided with the receipt.

“You can keep the receipt,” she explained as she unlocked her door “and the change, if there’s any.” As she entered her room, she spared him another glance. “Thanks for talking with me, Odin.”

“W-Welcome.” The door shut.

Odin didn’t know why he was getting so pumped about things like conversations with Ava. But he was. And he was fine with that.

At least he’d have the next week off – his family would be doing renovations to the café. Maybe he could talk to her then.

OOOOO

Odin’s dorm wasn’t messy, but he wouldn’t call it downright pleasant either. His brother had a habit of crashing there when he was drunk, and Odin had his fill of cleaning up messes in the morning.

But, it was a weekend, he got his art project finished, and he had made enough to order some take-out. He had gotten himself some greek food, a nice contrast to the hearty or greasy foods he had to deal with for the last week or so.

His phone chimed, but he didn’t recognize the number as he placed his take-out on the table. Hesitantly, he answered it. “H-Hello?”

A male voice replied. “ _Is this Odin Arrow?”_

“The same.”

 _“You left your wallet here, sir,”_  and Odin cursed internally that he didn’t feel its familiar weight against his hip “ _we’re having someone drive it down to you – you go to TITANIA’s school, right?”_

“Wh-Who doesn’t?”

_“Fair enough. Can I have an address?”_

After exchanging an address and voicing a thanks, Odin flipped his phone shut with a sigh. He needed a shower.

OOOOO

The warm water had felt nice, and he tied a towel around his waist as he fished around his drawers for a pair of pants. He pulled on a pair of jeans he knew to be relatively clean and was planning on devouring his food, but there was a knock at his door.

He swung it open. “Th-Thanks for returning my wallet-” he blinked.

Ava stood, holding out his wallet, and a blush was slowly seeping through her features. “H-Hi Odin,” she stuttered, and it was then that he realized he still didn’t have a shirt on. However, he loved the reaction he was getting out of her.

“H-Hi Ava,” he tried to reply smoothly “didn’t know y-you worked for Fig’s Eats.”

“Part-time. Mostly cook when I’m there.” She scuffed her foot, still holding her wallet up to him.

He pulled it from her hand gently. “H-How the tables turn, huh?”

She laughed, a little nervously, and once again played with her hair. It seemed to be a nervous habit. “Well, goodnight Odin. I gotta go work on my art project. It was… _nice_  seeing you.” He caught the emphasis, and he felt his own face heat up.

“G’night,” he waved as she attempted to speed walk down the hallway. Turning back to his room, he flipped his wallet open, just to make sure nothing was stolen, and a slip of paper fell out. Snatching it between two fingers off the floor, he recognized it to be a phone number, labeled “from AVA” and he nearly dropped it again out of excitement.

“Hell yes,” he whispered to himself, placing the number on his fridge with a magnet.

OOOOO

He’s added her into his contacts, and texted her once just to verify that it was her number, and hadn’t texted her again since. It had only been a few days, he tried to console himself, but building up the nerve to actually ask her out or something was beginning to intimidate him.

But then, by chance, late at night as he watched a rerun of Gilligan’s Island out of boredom, his phone chimed.

“ _COME TO DORM ASAP_ ” was the entire text. He rushed to pull on his jacket, and he didn’t even have his arm through the second sleeve when he was down the stairs and rushing to her dorm. What was wrong? Was there an emergency? He halted in front of her door and refrained himself from slamming it open, opting to knock really panicked instead.

Ava swung the door open, wearing pajamas and almost yelling  **“ _Ok bye Maggie later!”_**  And slammed it shut behind her. She looked flushed and sweaty, and maybe hyperventilating a little.

“Wh-What? Wh-Why did you text me?”

Ava shuddered a little at the coldness of the hallway, so he pulled his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders. “Maggie came over to my dorm and invited her boyfriend, and now they’re…” she trailed off, before looking up at him pleadingly. “Can I stay at your dorm tonight?”

“Wh-What?”

“Maggie’s gonna be in my dorm all night! Please? I can sleep on the couch, I just don’t wanna be in the same room as those two.”

Odin swallowed hard before finally relenting with a groan. “F-Fine, you can sleep on my couch.”

They walked up the concrete steps, Ava actually barefoot, and they came to his dorm. “D-Don’t expect much,” he warned, and unlocked the door. They both stepped inside and he instantly set upon his tiny kitchen to start boiling some water for some tea. Ava plopped herself onto his couch, still with his jacket over her shoulders.

“Thanks for rescuing me.”

He coughed awkwardly. “It… was n-nothing. Don’t worry about i-it.”

The silence was pressing, and Ava’s sweet high voice filled it well. “You mentioned you had sisters? Do they go here?”

“N-Nah,” he explained as he poured some boiling water into twin tea cups, tossing in a bag as they soaked. “They’re l-like twelve. Super annoying too.” He walked over to the couch and offered her a mug, which she took graciously. “It’s kind of a good th-thing they’re not here, in my opinion.”

Ava smiled at him again, all brown hair and bright eyes, and as she took a drink a past thought occurred to him. “H-Hey, Ava.” She glanced up to him. “Th-The second time I m-met you… You w-were crying. C-Can I ask why?”

She was silent for a long moment, before heaving a heavy sigh. “Well… it’s my stepmom,” she admitted lowly, biting her lower lip and leaning her forehead against her knees.

“Wh-What about her?”

“Her name’s Wrathia, and it fits pretty well to her personality. She doesn’t like me much. I think she only adopted me because I knew how to cook and clean, and now that I’m old enough to be out of the house and live in a dorm she’s upset I’m not there to do chores anymore.”

Odin took a sip of his tea, relishing the sweetness of the honey he added. “Sh-She sounds like an ass.”

Ava nodded with a stifled snicker. “She called me up that day. Said some mean stuff and hung up.”

“Wh-What kind of mean stuff?”

“Called me a ‘ _fat bitch’_  and a ‘ _psychopath’_  again.” Odin choked on his drink. “It’s nothing new, but I was having a rough day.”

“W-Wait, this is nothing n-n-new?” Ava nodded again, almost innocently. “To hell with her b-being an ass, she’s a demon straight from the underworld.”

Ava’s stomach grumbled and she looked away. Odin gave her a look over. “I n-noticed you were ordering more salads,” he pondered aloud, leaning over a little to try and look at her face.

“I got to thinking, maybe she was right…” Ava muttered, burying her face in her knees again.

Odin sat up, slamming his mug on the table. “N-No way,” he announced, and her expression became shocked from his outburst. “You’re one of the g-greatest people I kn-know, and I only met you l-like a week ago. So ignore whatever that h-h-hellspawn tells you, alright?!” He didn’t realize he’d been leaning toward her as he spoke, but he did after she threw her arms around his shoulders.

“Thanks, Odin. I mean it.” Her breath was hot on his neck as she spoke, and she smelled sweet, like flowers and sugar.

“A-Anytime,” he muttered again, trying to stop the hotness in his face. He patted her on the back a few times – gracious she was small – and she eventually let go.

“Well, I guess the couch is for me, huh? When do you usually head to bed?”

Odin rolled his shoulders, trying to push the blush from his face. “I w-was gonna watch a movie first.”

Ava’s smile was pure and affectionate as she scooted closer to him. “I can watch it with you, till you go to bed.”

“Deal.”

Ava fell asleep first, half cuddled up to Odin with her legs splayed out over his couch. He fell asleep with his head throw back at an odd angle with one of his arms twisted in an odd position to grasp onto Ava’s shoulders while she slept.

Despite the uncomfortable positions, they slept well.

When Odin woke up the next morning, he had to reflect – maybe delivering food wasn’t so bad after all.


	12. that one about odin's age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was back when Odin was still down as 18 and not... four and a half seasons or whatall

“You still don’t look sixteen to me.”

 

Odin looked up from where he was sewing up a hole in his shirt, a string between his teeth as he pulled the torn sides together. “Hng?” After a moment he finished the patch and tied the strung up tear together. “I’m sixteen. I’m just mature for my age.”

Her eyes flashed suddenly, like a fire bellowing behind her eyes. She interlocked her fingers and sat forward, inspecting his face. “You’re.  _Not_. Six. Teen.” Each word was a little harder than the last, and Odin furrowed his brow as he put the sewing supplies away.

“Just because you look twelve doesn’t mean I can’t look older for my age.”

She abruptly sat up and practically shouted “ _Liar!_ ” He jumped at how angry she suddenly sounded, a metallic growl slithering through her tone. “And I can prove it!”

He sat up, far taller than her, and loomed over Ava’s tiny and furious stature with his own irritated and flashing glare. “R-Really, now?”

Her eyes narrowed, the lava under her skin lurching as she spoke. “You don’t stutter when you lie.”

He blinked, his set jaw loosening and shoulders sagging. “Wh-What?”

“You don’t stutter when you lie. You’re not replying to me, you’re responding to me.” Her hands clenched into fists. “And  _lying_  to me.”

He would have been flattered that she noticed that little factoid about his verbiage if she wasn’t so furious. Without another word she spun around and walked out the door, smoke off her shoulders and her hair slithering at her back like wrathful ocean waves.

 _“…D-Damn_.”

OOOO

Throughout the next few days, Ava wasn’t talking to Odin. He was so busy with his usual work that he barely noticed at first, but as the days wore on he was becoming painfully aware of her blatant disregard of his presence.

At one point he was moving sheets of metal to patch up Olai’s ship, and she, out of what seemed to be pure spite, bypassed him carrying  _twice_  the weight he was.

As they passed, she shot him a glare and mouthed “Nerd-Lord” at him before dropping the metal by the ship and stomping off to the main house. Crow and Raven noticed, and seemed to be in full support of her attitude.

He was obligated to keep a few secrets, right? And it was about his age, it wasn’t anything particularly important.

The last straw was at dinner.

Ava was sitting in the corner – as usual, he noticed, she didn’t like sitting near the group – but instead of eating her food, she seemed to be inspecting it.

“Crow?” Ava turned to the stark haired youth, who blinked in surprise at Ava talking to her.

“Hmph?” She had a mouthful of bread and swallowed. “What?”

“Who baked the bread rations today?”

“Odin. Why?”

Without hesitation, the bread in her hand blackened as her hand turned bright gold, the fire under her skin staggering though her veins. She crushed the bread in her fist before setting her platter aside and walking out, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Odin slammed his hands onto the table before stalking after her, aware of how every pair of eyes in the room was on him. He, too, slammed the door childishly, before seeking Ava out in the night foliage.

It wasn’t exactly hard, especially with her glowing like a sun.

He stomped up to her, and when she spun around to sneer at him or something, he grabbed her by her wrist. “ _W-We need to talk_.” The cold bite in his tone made her falter briefly, before she nodded forward, goading him to drag her along.

Odin dragged her over to his quarters, where he was careful to make sure no one was listening in before closing the door and facing Ava. Even if she was only a few feet tall, the whole lava thing made her very intimidating.

“Wh-What’s your deal?” He hissed lowly, trying to stop his voice from stuttering.

“You lied to me.”

“S-So? You n-never tell me about that thing on your ch-chest, I thought it would be fine!”

Her skin erupted in seething golds and hot oranges, that metallic undertone overtaking her voice as she replied angrily “There’s a  _difference_!” Her pupils were elongated as a goat’s, and her teeth were taking on a sharper edge.

_Shit._

“I have  _never_  lied to you!” She turned and raked her tipped fingers through fiery hair and let out a few furious breaths. “I never tell you about it, but I don’t  _lie_  to you about it! I would  _never_  lie to you!” She turned, and even though her skin was blazing and her eyes were so alien, he had never seen her looking so human as her face dropped from furious to heartbroken. “I thought we were closer than lies by now. Do you not feel the same way?”

He swallowed twice before feeling confident enough to reply. “No. I m-mean, yes! Wait,” he put a hand on his face and sighed, feeling stupid and childish. “L-Look, I do feel the same way. W-We  _are_  close.” For a second he wondered if she felt something more than platonic friendship toward him as he did with her, but pushed the thought out. “It’s j-just, how I was raised; lying isn’t… a big d-deal. L-like it is with you.” He couldn’t quite pull the apology from his lips, but he did stutter out “I w-won’t lie to you anymore.”

Her skin extinguished from its fiery luster, and she looked at her feet. “…Promise?”

He chuckled, once. “Pr-Promise.”

He could see through the curtain of Ava’s hair, a small smile forming on her features. He was relieved to finally get on her good side, and placed an uncertain hand onto her shoulder. She didn’t move or stiffen up, so he took that as a good sign.

“L-Let’s go finish dinner before Raven eats everything.”

As they started to step out, they heard someone call “ _Laaaame!_ ” from outside the door. The both stopped and glanced at the other before swinging the door open.

Crow and Raven were half leaning against it, so when it swung open they toppled to the ground, looking up at the both of them.

“Wh-What are you  _doing_  here?” Odin didn’t conceal the bitter anger in voice at his sister’s snooping.

Crow was about to speak, but Raven interrupted her. “We thought you were gonna go have some sexytimes.” Odin felt his face scream from heat as a blush traveled up his features.

“We were  _not_  going to make out!” The girls looked at each other skeptically.

 “G-Get out!” He threw a book at them as they scattered into the shadows as their namesake birds would “Out – out –  _out!_ ” After throwing an appropriate amount of items, he turned to Ava.

She was blushing wildly as well, but her eyes were fixated on him in abject surprise.

“Wh-What?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper. “You didn’t stutter.”

Odin barely got a protest from his throat before Ava was down the hall in a flurry of heat and smoke.

“… _D_ - _Damn._ ”


	13. the autumn drabble

Odin liked walking beside Ava. She was like a little heater, and he was especially aware of her presence around the colder seasons.

 

Autumn was setting in, and he was watching the leaves fall, striking orange and deep yellows fluttering with the cool wind. His arm was suddenly yanked, and he was going to chastise Ava for scaring him, but she was too busy looking forward.

“What’s happening?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Wh-What do you mean?”

“The leaves. They’re yellow and stuff.” He blinked. He forgot the TITAN planets had a regulated atmosphere, so the trees she saw probably never reached this point.

“It’s autumn.” He paused. “Th-The trees are dying, so th-their leaves are falling off.”

She blinked, looking between the trees. “So… then what? They die and that’s it?”

He scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Of c-course not, the leaves will grow back when spring comes.” Before he could walk away, he felt a bump against his arm. Ava was leaning against him, and he suppressed a noise of surprise.

“It’s pretty…” she commented softly, looking at all the trees wistfully. He nodded in reply, but something she mumbled under her breath startled him. “I’m all red… I wonder if I’ll come back green.” Odin had the sudden urge to put an arm around her or place a hand on her head – something to keep her in place, to ground her.

She said things like that sometimes, and if Odin was feeling honest, he’d admit it made him scared. But he never asked, and he enjoyed her leaning against his arm, warming him. She wasn’t even wearing really thick winter gear. He supposed that was due to her being a walking sun.

“Do all trees lose their leaves?”

“N-Not all of them.” They started walking again, and he offered an elbow for Ava to hold onto. She stared at it for a moment, as though uncertain what the gesture meant, before carefully intertwining her fingers around the crux of his elbow. “The pine trees stay green.”

“What happens during winter?”

Odin thought to himself for a second, before replying. “I-It’s more accurate to say that th-the trees don’t die, as much as they go to sleep. D-during winter, they don’t have any leaves, and wh-when spring comes, all the leaves grow back and they… wake up.”

Ava made an interested humming noise in response, looking around the scenery a bit more.

Ava blended into the season perfectly. With her crimson hair and flashing golden skin, she could have disappeared into the leaves entirely.

Odin glanced around, abruptly remembering something. “H-Hey, do you wanna see something?”

She blinked up at him, her pupils sparking with the movement. “What is it?”

“An autumn game.” He led her over to a pile of leaves centered under a particularly large maple tree, and he felt a grin start forming at the tips of his mouth. “W-Watch.” She let go of his arm as he dove into the leaves, the dead foliage making a satisfying crunch underneath him. There was a cloud of leaf debris and Ava laughed a little, blocking her face from the leaves that scattered upwards.

“What are you  _doing_?” she asked in confusion, but there was still merriment in her tone.

“J-Jumping into a leaf pile. Y-You should try it.”

She looked at him with a tiny pout, glancing around the leaves, before jumping into a pile next to him. She vanished for a moment, but her head popped out from the pile a second later, her skin golden and eyes fiery bright. An unrestrained grin pulled back her lava-riddled face as she tried to stand up and fell back over, once again enveloped.

Odin stood up and made an embarrassingly loud battle cry as he dove into the same pile, and Ava shrieked as the leaves piled around the both of them. Ava threw a handful of leaves at him and as he threw a handful back, she retaliated by nearly tackling him back onto the pile of maple leaves. Odin knew his hair would have leaves stuck in it from everywhere, and his clothes would have debris clinging to the fabric, but for once he didn’t care.

After a moment of silence, the leaves settling, Odin could hear Ava’s voice, muffled and buried under leaves, just as he was.

“I think I like autumn.”


	14. that one assassin AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're STILL in 2014... how the heck many fics did I spit out???  
> ...probably like a dozen more. ya girl had a coping mechanism lmao

Odin was aware of someone watching him.

It niggled at the back of his thoughts, like the touch of spider silk brushing the back of his neck, like someone breathing so quietly in his ear he wasn’t certain it was even there.

 

He turned, panic rising in his gullet, making sweat drip down his face-

And nothing. Once again, he was looking at shadows; his eyes searching desperately as spots formed and he had to blink a few times.

“Chasing spirits again, Odin?”

He glanced up to look at his younger sister, Crow, who was leaning against the door leisurely. She held in one hand a clip-book, sporting her new alchemist’s robes prettily in the dim light. Her eyes flicked over to his face.

He rolled his shoulders and scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit he’d formed as of late. “I-It feels like s-someone’s  _watching_ , is all…”

She scoffed, tossing the clipboard onto his lap. “You’ve been cooped up too long.”

“Th-This commission for fire-powder is very technical, y-you know that.” He sighed and took a glance at her calculations. She added too much sulfur to the mix, so it sparked almost instantly and left a foul smell clinging to her clothes. “O-Once I get this done, I’ll m-make an effort to go outside more.”

“You  _are_  the ‘royal alchemist’,” she stated with air quotations, before planting her hands on her hips. “I’ll be taking your place once I’m of age, but for now, you need to keep up your health.” He sighed, handing the clipboard back, already fixing her computation. Crow had a sense of pride for being the only female alchemist known to mankind thus far, and she used it against Odin constantly, always leering that she’d take his place.

She looked over the calculations and scrunched her nose in response, turning from a mathematician to a twelve year old in seconds. “Well,” she slipped the clipboard into her robes “I’m sending Raven up here with a platter of food for you – she’s getting better at archery,” her twin complimented in a rare gesture of appreciation. “Soon she’ll be outmatching the knights. Of course, that’s also because I’ve tipped her arrowheads in poison,” the girl added wickedly.

Odin rolled his eyes and plucked another glass vial up between his fingers, the familiar scent of charcoal and saltpeter stinging his nose. He was used to it.

As Crow left, the wooden door shut with a noiseless whoosh of air behind her, and he was once again alone with his calculations.

He thought to himself – Raven was getting good at archery. He was no pushover himself, the entire Arrow lineage well equipped when it came to weaponry, but his family also had the recipe for fire-powder, a grainy black dust that sparked and popped when it came in contact with flame. The King wanted an absurd amount of it, and it was up to Odin to deliver. Just getting the materials was difficult, but a stable amount so large? Nearly impossible.

Odin sighed and leaned back, stretching his arms out. His robe was itchy. He would exchange it for a fresher one later.

He rubbed his eyes again and lit an oil wick lantern, looking over his paperwork. He was no wizard, or some sort of miracle maker, but he knew chemicals and how they worked. He missed hunting in the sun and not having a court member breathing down his neck, waiting for more results.

Those were happier times.

He popped his back and leaned over, continuing his calculations. But he was interrupted by that troublesome feeling like someone was watching him once more, causing the hair on his neck to prickle. Odin would never admit that he might’ve been a little paranoid from being indoors for so long, but he was considering leaving the room for a fortnight and just lazing around the royal gardens if this really was all in his head.

There was a low scrape, like metal dragging across rough leather. He picked up his lantern and turned around, squinting as he checked the shadows.

He looked around, before setting the lantern down and opening the little glass window nearby, checking outside for anything.

He could see a few guards making their nightly patrols, but nothing out of the ordinary.

He sighed and turned around, shutting the window-

A blur of crimson and black descended upon him, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling onto the hard cobblestone. Before he had a chance to cry out, he could see the dart of a blade towards his torso.

He panicked and rolled under the table, groaning at the pain that shot through his head. He picked up the vial of sulfur off the table and as the form came at him he splashed it on them.

The crimson and black clothes burned, sending an acrid smell throughout the little room, but surprisingly the cloaked figure didn’t hesitate – they didn’t  _stop_ , even with the burning chemicals soaking through their clothes.

Odin barely hopped over the table as the blade almost nicked his calves, and he made a dash for the door as the lantern tumbled to the floor, going out. There was a yank on his ankle, and he made a strangled noise as he was dragged backwards, across the cobblestone.

He was suddenly face to face with piercing scarlet eyes, staring him down. The lantern’s flame had died, but he could see through the light of the moon filtering through the window the thin blade gleaming, and the rope that had lassoed around his ankle.

“Wh-What do you w-want?”

The person didn’t reply for a moment, and he could barely see anything past their massive black hood. The eyes though, they were blood red and fiercer than any predator of the wilds, and he felt like a thousand pounds were upon him as they stared.

“I am an assassin,” replied a startlingly young and distinctly female voice replied.

“And y-you’re here to… k-kill me?”

“Well…” the girl seemed to pause, and drew her blade back a little. He blinked as the predatory look in her eyes ebbed to something like  _anxiety_. “…I don’t want to.”

He shifted a little, uncomfortable underneath her grip. “W-Well. I-If you’d like, you can p-put the _sharp thing_ away and w-we can talk like normal people do.”

The blade split through the air and he held his breath as it barely grazed the scruff on his face. Scarlet eyes were once again hot and weighing on his shoulders, so he thought to keep his tongue.

“Here’s the thing,  _alchemist_ ,” and she used the word like an insult “if I don’t kill you, someone will kill me. That’s how it goes in the Vengess Guild.”

“Th-The Vengess Guild?” He paused, leaning up a little on his elbows. “Th-They’re a pretty prominent bunch of killers. I h-hear they’re better than the Sc-Scavengers.” He was trying to deflect her from her point, to buy himself some time.

“The Scavengers think a sharp stick and a target means they’re an assassin,” she scoffed. “They’re thugs, not politicians.”

“A-And you? Are you a p-politician?”

Her eyes went downcast for a moment and her voice turned strangely soft and quiet, sounding far more like a girl than a killer. “No. I’m not.”

The door swung open as Raven stated aloud “Are you in here you crazy wizard? Crow told me to-” her voice faded out as she spotted the figure looming above him holding a blade aloft, and the carnage the room had been churned into. She dropped the food and flicked her bow into her hand, pulling an arrow from the shaft so smoothly it was pleasing to watch.

She nocked the arrow, and a blink later it went splitting across the room, where it would cross the assassin’s face. Odin braced himself for a scream or at least a blood spatter, but the assassin’s face went jerking the other way as the arrow crossed her path.

There was a moment of silence before the assassin turned, holding the arrow between her teeth. Raven’s bow went loose in her hand at the sight of it, and Odin would have clapped if there wasn’t a knife still a hairs-breath away from his throat.

She took the arrow from her mouth and stated with a harsh tone, like the howls of the great wolves on the mountains “It’ll take more than  _that_  to stop me.” The assassin sent one last look at Odin, regarding him with a business like interest, before back flipping out the window, sending glittering pieces of glass raining on them. Raven rushed to the window, where the only movement seen was the sluggish drag of grey clouds across the moon.

“What was that?!” His sister demanded as he struggled to his feet, untying the rope from his foot.

“An assassin,” he responded in a clipped tone, tossing the rope aside and rubbing the back of his head, still aching.

“I could see that, but why was she trying to kill you?”

“I…” he faltered and looked back towards the broken window, glass glittering in the moonlight “I don’t know.”

OOOOO

Odin was being kept under watch, for fear of another assassin’s attack. Odin hadn’t sensed anything – and he was able to prove to his sisters that he was  _not_  crazy – so they eventually let him continue with his work.

He was moved to different chambers though, near the higher spires of the great castle towers. The room was bigger though, with a wider window, so he was almost appreciative.

He had already mixed half of the fire-dust solution for the King, the brunt of the work done. Now it was a matter of time and intricacy, being able to mix without falling asleep or making a mistake.

He was dozing a little as he mixed the ingredients in a little round bowl, grinding the charcoal into a fine, sandy powder. Soon, he could mix the rest of the ingredients and finish his job for the king. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. It had been nearly a week since the assassination attempt, but he still couldn’t forget those scarlet eyes, so angry one minute and then remorseful the next…

“I wondered where they moved you.”

He spun around, almost dropping the bowl, as he spotted her lean figure sitting in the wide window. The assassin had shed her black and red cloak, so he could see the various weapons strapped her to body and the glint of a blade in her hand. Through dyed leather, he could see her arms were wrapped in bandages, and her face concealed with a tied cloth around her face. However, her fiery locks were exposed, showing long hair captive in loops and braids that started at the crown of her head, like she was a royal lady.

He glanced towards the door. He couldn’t rely on Raven to suddenly burst in this time, and although he had a slender boot knife with him, it was, predictably, tucked in his boot. He could never pull it out without attracting her attention.

“S-So… here to f-finish the job?”

She slid to a perching position and shrugged. “Or the conversation. Whichever interests me more.”

“You’re a-awful fickle for a  _killer_ ,” he spat angrily, trying to reach out for any one of his chemicals. Any one of them was dangerous, but her blazing eyes like spilt blood trapped him in place again.  _This woman is like a basilisk_ , he thought desperately to himself as she stared him down.

“That didn’t work last time,” she reminded deftly, and he remembered how the sulfur slipped off of her like water.

“Y-Yeah, why  _didn’t_  that work?” His mind went from panic to curiosity, a glad distraction from his current predicament.

“I’ve grown a tolerance to things that burn,” she replied, and her voice was as short and sharp as the blade she held. “I’ve had my fair share of  _alchemists_ before.”

“Ah, s-so the resentment begins,” he mused aloud, almost leaning against the table. This was strange. He never thought he’d have a casual conversation with his killer. “So is th-this a crime of passion, or r-really apart of you whole assassin business?”

“I admit, I don’t like alchemists, but I like killing people even less.” She paused, tapped her chin with the dull side of her blade. “Not everyone the Vengess Guild enlisted were willing, you know.”

Odin blinked and shifted a little, his newly laundered robes still itchy against his skin as he slumped into a sitting position on the ground. “So y-you’re being forced to as-assassinate me?”

“Basically.”

“Oh.” That explained her hesitation. Following what she said last time, if she didn’t kill him, someone else would kill her. A double assassin? How incredibly odd. “W-Well, can you at least tell me your name?”

“Why would you want to know that?” Her voice was once again childlike, and he was reminded of his sisters.

“So I c-can introduce myself.”

“Your name is Odin Arrow, alchemist and hunter. Your family holds the formula for the fire-powder and are mages of chemicals in their own right – you like long walks in the woods and smoking.”

He coughed before replying sarcastically “Well I d-didn’t get the personality memo for  _you_.”

The assassin slipped out of the window and wandered the room casually, like a cat who owned the grounds. It made him wonder how many times she had been watching him without knowing it, memorizing the room. “All assassins are given a quick bio of their targets. It’s useful.” She leaned against the opposite side of the table, forcing him to stand up if he was to continue eye contact.

“My name is Ire.”

“S-Stage name?” he teased, a feral smirk pulling up his features.

“Last name.” He could spot a liar, so Odin knew Ire wasn’t lying. She picked at her nails with the tip of her knife.

“No f-first names at the Vengess Guild?”

“They don’t matter.” She stated with a bitter tongue, hissing under her breath. He glanced at the bandages on her arms and chewed on his lip a little.

“You… hurt?” She blinked and looked up, her cloth mask stretching a little with the movement. “Your arms,” he elaborated simply. She glanced down at them and rolled her shoulders.

“I have… scars. Nothing more. They’re not pleasant to look at.”

“Wh-Why should a dead man be int-intimidated by scars? Maybe I can d-do something to help them fade.”

She laughed then, leaning back onto the table and sending it moving a few inches. “A target, offering to help an assassin? What is that, a bribe?”

He shrugged with a helpless yet tense grin on his face. She laughed a little more before slanting over and looking across his face carefully. After a moment after becoming uncomfortable, she pulled the crimson bandana down to show a young face, splotched with tanning spots and scars.

“I like you, Odin.” She jerked and was suddenly perched atop the table like an avian predator, causing him to stagger back. “Hmn. My first name’s Ava, but don’t use it casually.”

“S-So I take it you’re not k-killing me?”

Ava pulled her mask back up and sheathed her knife. “I guess not. Not tonight, anyway. Maybe tomorrow night. Sleep well.” With that, she opened the wide windows and leapt off, and Odin scrambled to see where she fell, only to peer into the blackness of night.

OOOOO

 Odin was starting to enjoy the company of his assassin.

He didn’t ask about what her superiors thought of her lagging to kill him, and she didn’t tell him. With that, a somewhat tense friendship began, built on jeers and empty threats.

At first he feared for his life, but after the fifth “I’ll kill you tomorrow, sleep well” he was certain her intentions were no longer lethal.

“Careful Odin,” she warned as Odin ground together another handful of fire-powder “you might just drop that and blow the whole castle up.”

“N-Not when the King wants this much,” he commented idly, pouring it into another barrel to shut and send to the cellar.

“The King?” Ava leaned up, and he heard the clink of her weaponry as she moved. “The  _King_  wants all this?”

“I thought you kn-knew that,” he continued, and her scarlet eyes flashed as she thought.

“I was told  _you_  were making this much, and we were commissioned to assassinate you to stop the independent production. What’s the name of your king?”

He scoffed, tugging on his robes. By the seven gods, they were itchy. He considered changing into his hunting gear, but decided it wasn’t worth it if he got burned. “B-Been around, huh?” She gave him a look and he continued. “W-We don’t use his name, but he titled himself the TITAN.”

Her brows knit together as she contemplated. “That adds a serious wrench into our plans,” she mumbled aloud, black leather gloves stroking her face. He eyed her bandages again.

“A-Any trouble?”

“Nothing that concerns you, old wizard.” That insult again – he knew he never should have teased her about her height.

“A-Are you sure I c-can’t at least change your bandages?”

He’d been at this for days, and she finally sighed, unhooking her leather tunic to show bandages that went down her back as well, and up around her shoulders. “Do what you will,” she replied in an exasperated tone, anger making her face flare.

He unwound the bandages loop by loop, until he had to swallow the bile in his throat at the scar that was set neatly between her shoulder blades. “Wh-Wh-What is  _this_?”

“What?” She turned a little to stop Odin staring at her back. “Oh. That would be my Vengess brand. All bought children have one – you’ll find a few others, but they’re healed up, don’t fret.” She went back to thinking, but stiffened as Odin’s fingers carefully traced down the mark that twisted into her skin, paler and rougher than the rest of her back.

“Th-This is different than regular burn scars,” he mumbled, part of his mind in mourning and the other half thinking in scientific terms.

“They hired a skilled alchemist to make a solution that heals clean, but the brand remains.” Both his hands felt down her scars, some crosshatches like a whip, others like cuts, all framed around that brand seared long ago into her flesh. She leaned back into his cool palms, and they sat in comfortable silence for a long moment.

“Th-This is why you don’t like alchemists,” he talked aloud, continuing his train of thought. She glanced over her shoulder to look at him – and he held his breath, what a gorgeous creature he had befriended – and a small frown started on her features.

“If I’m remembering correctly, it was that same alchemist that hired us to kill you.” He pulled a salve off of his shelves and began rubbing over her back, letting the solution soak into her skin and soften the hardened scars. She seemed to be tense at physical contact, but she soon relaxed into his touch.

“Hmn, alchemist e-envy?”

“…maybe…” she didn’t say anything more, but after he wrapped her scars back up with white bandages, she gave him a quick peck of a kiss on his cheek and vanished into the shadows like a wraith.

Sometimes, he forgot she was an assassin.

A few minutes after she left, he put a hand against his cheek and sighed.

OOOOO

“Th-The last barrel was dispensed to the attic, your majesty,” Odin repeated to the gilded King, always wearing bright silver armor set with blue sapphires. Odin always forgot how garish he looked until seeing him sitting in that throne again.

“Good,” he rumbled in reply, thinking. “You will be paid handsomely. Go home.”

Odin left the great hall quickly after that – he didn’t like being in there, and if the king didn’t either, then that was his problem.

OOOOO

Home smelled like the woods and smoke, and it was a pleasant contrast to the usual sulfur and other acrid smells he was used to. As night descended, and he was already girded in his hunting clothing – his robe discarded – ready to go on a night hunt for some deer.

His sister decided to come with him for the first night, to make sure he didn’t break anything, before returning to the castle for training.

He was preparing by stringing his bow, so familiar to the touch of wood rather than cold glass vials.

“Odin, are you ready?” Raven was waiting impatiently by the door, rocking on the balls of her feet. “I want to get started  _before_  sun-up.”

He groaned at her antics and pulled arrows into his quiver, before turning around –

The hair on the back of his neck prickled. He turned towards the shadows, before asking nervously “…Ava?”

Bright blue eyes snapped open as a  _different_  assassin came from the ceiling, bright blues his coloration and hair like silver silk. He was fast, and Odin dropped to the ground as finger sized blades jutted into the wall above his head.

“Th-Throwing knives?!” He asked aloud in exasperation, dodging another bladed attack.

Raven managed to fire an arrow, but he caught it between his fingers and fired it back at the girl. She fell to the floor to dodge the pointed edge, and yelled “I would really like it if my arrows stuck in what I was aiming at!”

Odin rose to try and hoist his sister to her feet, but a flash of blue was darting towards him from across the room, and he held his breath in anticipation of blades in his torso.

There was the noise of steel against steel, so loud it made his teeth ache from the ringing. He opened indigo eyes to spot a head of red hair, and white bandages in the dark. “Ava!” He exclaimed, relieved by her presence. She seemed to ignore him though, her attention at the blue assassin across the room.

“He’s  _mine_ ,” she hissed, her hair going on end like the hackles of a wolf. The blue assassin jolted backwards in a liquid movement, smooth as water as they put some distance between himself and Ava.

“The client wants him dead, Ire,” the assassin warned, voice old as oceans and sharp as sea stones. This was an senior assassin.

“Plans have changed, Marverde.” She sheathed her knife, which she had used seconds earlier to deflect his throwing blades. He looked confused by the movement, and lowered his own weapons in response. “The other Alchemist works for the TITAN. They want the only shares of fire-dust.”

The assassin Marverde caught onto the idea. “Ah, so sending you after Odin-”

“-Yes.”

He pulled back, shrinking into the shadows. “I’ll notify Bellarmina and Nanzegani – you’d better stop an explosion.”

“I was on my way before you swam in here like an eel and tried to kill my target.”

Odin was becoming increasingly lost – only that Ava knew something that drove the blue assassin back. Marverde melted into the darkness, and Ava spun around, hair like flames dancing over shoulders. She looked around the room, glancing, before asking aloud “Where’s your other sister?”

“Crow?” He paused. “She w-was moving her things into my o-old quarters. Why?”

She began to go out the door. “The alchemist that hired my guild to kill you is working for TITAN – they wanted to kill you to get the remaining fire-powder to themselves, and if I’m correct, a rival kingdom is going to try and…  _relieve_ them of their supply.” As if he didn’t get the hint, she blew out a nearby candle.

The fire-powder was explosive.

Odin felt a chill go down his spine. “Crow s-still in there!”

“Don’t I know it,” Ava replied smoothly, and she was out the door and into the dark before Odin had a chance to respond.

OOOOO

Whatever hunting plans were discarded after that, Odin and Raven running their horses so hard steamy white breath blew in clouds from their muzzles.

They had to rescue Crow. TITAN’s castle was going to be brought down around his ears by another kingdom, a rival team. Odin didn’t know who, only that he had to get his sister out.

As they saw the castle in the distance, he spotted a great orange blur in the sky, light reflecting off of smoke. “We’re too late!” Raven screeched, panic lacing her voice.

“N-Not yet,” he pressed, continuing his steed “they’ve only set fire to my workroom, not the main attic!” They dismounted quickly, but were stopped by a cloaked figure in their path.

Raven had an arrow nocked before she had even slipped off her horse. “Who the hell are you!?”

“What language for a young lady,” came a mildly metallic reply, and a hood was pulled down to show a very off alchemist indeed. Their skin was paper white, eyes a foggy blue, mouth concealed by a mask strapped around their face.

“Ch-Chemical poisoning,” Odin warned to his sister under his breath. “What d-do you want?”

“I’m the last of the Six prime alchemists, and I want your formula for fire-dust. TITAN is stingy with his earnings – you, however, created it. I was planning on having that little red-haired assassin kill you and take the recipe, as I hired her for, but she eventually found out what my plans were.” They pulled out a handful of bloody bandages and tossed it to the ground in front of them.

Odin felt his blood go hot as he became absolutely livid.

“She died quickly, if that makes you feel better. Now, tell me how you make it.”

Odin heard the whizz of an arrow slicing through the air, and it hit the Alchemist square in the forehead, cutting a lock of blue hair as they jerked backwards.

“Finally!” Raven cheered, finally happy her arrow hit something.

The Sixth Alchemist jerked back foreword and pulled the arrow from the front of her forehead.

“Awh, no fair!”

They crushed the arrow as eerie blue blood dribbled down their forehead. “Let me put it like this – if you don’t give me the formula, I’ll simply squeeze it out of your other sister.”

Odin pulled the knife from his boot and  _snarled_. “L-Leave them alone!”

The Sixth one lunged forward, and Odin dodged as a blue sword swerved past him. “It’s saturated in my own poison formula, if you know what I mean,” they teased, and Odin had to side-step them several times. They were almost too fast for him – almost.

But they teetered to the side, clenching and unclenching their hands. “What’s happening to me?”

Raven laughed haughtily. “Crow dipped my arrow-heads in a little formula of her own!”

They staggered – Odin saw his chance and dove forward, driving the blade deep beneath their ribs and into their stomach. “Th-That’s for threatening my family,” he pulled the knife out “That’s for threatening me-” and shoved the knife up through the bottom of their jaw, silver tip peeking out from the crown of their head. “And that’s for A-Ava.”

As the body, dyed blue from chemicals, went limp to the ground, Odin felt a sudden burst of heat at his back. He turned around and felt dread creep up his stomach and clench at his heart.

The castle was completely engulfed in flames.

They were too late.

Odin stared as the cobblestone burnt from the bottom up, heard the screams of the castle folk.

He spilled onto his knees, holding his face in his hands.

He hadn’t saved Crow. He couldn’t save Ava.

“What’re you crying about, you old wizard?”

He jerked up, tears pricking at his eyes, and saw a pair of scarlet eyes and scarred skin, open wounds bleeding as Ava stepped down the path, cradling Crow in her arms. He bolted to his feet as Raven almost tackled her, taking Crow from her grasp.

“B-But the bandages-”

“The Sixth one sliced me up a bit, but only enough to get a handful of my dressings.” She smiled coyly, pulling her crimson hair back over a bloodied shoulder. “You don’t really think they could’ve  _stopped_  me, do you?”

Odin pulled her up into his arms, feeling the rough, scarred patches of skin in his palms, the tickle of her hair and the smooth motions of her hands against his face. “I th-thought I’d lost you,” he breathed, looking up at perfectly scarred features.

“Don’t be stupid,” she replied, hooking her elbows around his neck “you’re  _mine_ , remember?”

“UGH!” They both turned to see Raven, holding a conscious Crow, and they were both staring at them with a semblance of disgust.

“Get a room,” Crow coughed, dusting soot off of her skirt.

“I-It kind of burned up,” Odin pointed out, looking back up at the castle, a fiery inferno of rock and burning parchment.

As they left the burning castle, back to their home in the woods, Odin felt Ava’s eyes watching him. However, he couldn’t be happier that she was doing so.


	15. the boxing AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man you ppl really just gave me any prompt and I'd make content huh

Odin hit people for a living.

Admittedly, there was a lot more grace and accuracy that accompanied such a brash movement, but that was basically what he did with his pastimes.

He was not going to hit this.

 

A girl, hair tied back in a long, crimson ponytail, stood across from him, wearing bright red face protection and worn out boxing gloves. She was wearing tiny sneakers and knee length shorts, sporting a pink tank-top.

She looked like a twelve year old.

Odin would have objected if his mouth guard wasn’t already secure in his mouth. The bell rang, and Odin lazily put up his arms for defense, figuring it would be an easy fight.

It was not.

She was  _fast_. She landed a hit on his arms and he skid back a little, eyes widening with the brute force of the hit, and she swung around to hit his jaw. He defended, blocking from the left, but a moment later she hopped back and curved around to punch his ribs. Odin barely backed up in time. He swung forward, a lot of force behind the movement, but she slid the hit off her arms and downwards, where he almost hit the floor as she punched him in the stomach.

“Yield!” The bell hadn’t run yet, but he was thankful for the interference anyway. He backed up and leaned against the ropes, gasping for breath. The girl’s coach, a woman with burning eyes and almost fiery skin seemed to be scolding her. “Ava, what the hell? I’ve seen you go faster with a hundred ten degree fever and land better shots than this.”

She pulled the mouth-guard out of her mouth, scarlet eyes wandering over Odin’s form before turning back to her coach. “Sorry, Wrathia. I was playing nice.”

“To hell with playing nice! Next time, shatter his ribcage or give him a broken leg. You’re meant to be  _lethal_ , not nice.” Her coach rubbed her face before announcing “I’m gonna go and hit the sack. You brush up and go take a shower, you smell atrocious.” The boxer, Ava, nodded once as her coach turned tail and exited the gym, grumbling to herself all the way.

“P-Playing  _nice_?” Odin asked, eyebrows knit together. Ava smiled sweetly at him, but there was a nervous twist in her brow.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to fight you. I knew Wrathia would cut it short if my speed wasn’t perfect.” She pulled her head gear off and stretched, showing toned muscles and scars that ran up her arms. She pulled off a glove and offered it out. “I’m Ava.”

He stared at the hand in contempt, and looked up at her. The message was clear : I’m not going to shake your hand.

“You’re gonna shake my hand or I’m gonna punch you in the mouth,” Ava continued through grit teeth. Odin pulled off a glove and shook her hand limply, looking off to the side.

“Anyway, you must be Odin, right?”

He blinked. “How’d you know?”

She stepped out of the ring, her gloves already tied by the laces and hanging over one shoulder. She shot him a coy smile. “We’re sparring partners, as of now. Have a good night.”

Odin stared at her as she began to walk away.

“Wh-What.”

OOOOO

He checked the list the next morning. Ava was his sparring partner.

Wonderful.

He entered the showers, giving himself a rinse over. The gym was never in perfect condition, he noticed as only cold water poured from the shower head. He even heard the girl’s side stopped working.

He redressed and pulled on his sparring gear, and as he stepped out he caught the flash of fiery hair and finely toned muscles. She was punching a sandbag, fierce, quick hits, causing his eyes to blur from it.

She stopped for a moment, and glanced over her shoulder. “Ah, hi Odin. Are you ready?”

“L-Let me stretch first,” he chided, not sure how to feel. His sparring partner was good – really good – but she was also a kid. That damaged his pride.

She decided to spot for him as he lifted a few weights. “I was pretty pumped to hear that I was being partnered with someone three years older than me. Well, I guess nearly two, because my birthday is coming up-“

Odin blanched as he lifted the weights, looking at her splotched face. “Y-You’re fifteen?”

“Almost sixteen.”

“I th-thought you were twelve.”

She glared at him and leaned on the bar, causing Odin to exclaim as the weight was too much for him. He set the weights up and sighed heavily. “I d-didn’t mean offense.”

“Yeah, you  _did_. You did yesterday too.” Her tone bit like a cold wind, only this time Odin knew it would translate into her punches. “Let’s get into the ring.”

As he put on his gear, he wondered what Ava meant by playing nice.

OOOOO

“Odin! Are you ok?”

“L-L-Lemme catch… my b-breath…”

Ava hadn’t been kidding when she said she had been playing nice. She wasn’t a boxer, she was a  _killer_. Although he had bested her a few times, her quick movements were like a sprinting match.

“You hit pretty hard,” Ava complimented, putting her arm up to show a forming bruise, deep purples even through her thickly tanned skin. “You got me a few times good.”

“Th-Thanks.” He felt a smile tugging up the edges of his mouth. “I gotta g-get faster, you’re quick.”

“Thanks! I’m gonna go hit the showers – you?”

He nodded, pulling off his head-gear. “Yeah, yeah, I kn-know, I stink.” She laughed, and he found the noise to be pleasant.

Maybe she wasn’t such a bad sparring partner after all.

He entered the showers and began rinsing himself off again, wincing when one of Ava’s hits was sprayed with the cold water. She hit quick, and sometimes brutally hard, but she wasn’t hitting as hard as anticipated. He lifted up the bar of soap off the slot in the wall to at least get some stink off of him, but it slipped between his palms and into the next person’s shower.

He sighed. Great.

But to his surprise, someone picked it up and he heard the noise of someone scaling the metal partition to hand it back over.

“Here you go.”

Odin’s face burned as he spotted Ava’s scarlet eyes and her crimson hair, damp against her face. He took it numbly and she slid back to her side, where she continued washing.

_“…AVA?!”_

“Whoa! What?”

Odin was glad for the cold water. If his blush got any hotter he was going to have a stroke. “Wh-Why are you in the  _guy’s_  showers?”

“The girls are broken.” Oh. He had heard about that. “And I didn’t look or anything, be grateful for your soap.”

Odin took the fastest shower known to man and hastily dressed himself. “Uh…” He swallowed hard, seeing Ava’s door was still shut. “S-See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow!” He saw a hand wave from above the showers, and he rubbed his head before exiting.

OOOOO

Odin was getting used to reading Ava’s movements, and hers to him.

If she swung around, that meant she was doing a hard hit, but if she just drew back, that meant it was a hit only to stun, and he could walk it off easy. She spotted when he was about to swing a heavy hitter by the arch in his back, and knew when she could curve a hit by the angle of his elbow.

One day, after they were done sparring, he spotted her coach out of the corner of his eye. The good natured jabbing stopped when he warned “Jerk-alert” under his breath as Wrathia approached.

“You’re getting slower,” her coach bit lowly, eyes narrowing down at Ava.

“I’m compensating speed for force,” she retaliated, undoing her gloves and tying them over her shoulders.

Wrathia’s glare turned  _glacial_. “Train after hours. The gym is open all night.  _Utilize that_.” It sounded like a threat as Wrathia left, barely there for more than a few minutes.

“Th-That was ominous,” Odin muttered, looking to Ava. Her face held a grave expression. “Y-You alright?”

“Yeah. I‘m gonna go hit the sandbags for a bit. See you.” Her tone was unusually severe and her look more apathetic and angry than cheerful. He watched her walk for a little bit before shrugging and going to the showers.

OOOOO

Odin decided to get up early on the weekend, a few hours before the sun came up. Ava was a good sparring partner, and he decided it was time for him to treat things more seriously if he was going to make the both of them get any better.

It was early morning, but he heard someone hitting the sandbag. A coach, maybe?

As he stepped around the corner, Odin spotted a tangle of crimson hair.

“Wh-What…?”

Ava was still training. Her gloves were discarded beside her, the seams busted, and she was practicing with her bare hands wrapped in gauze for padding.

She was quicker and harder than he had ever seen her before, sweat coming down like buckets over her form as she continued, nonstop against the leather sealing of the bag.

Odin took a step forward in disbelief, dropping his gym bag. “ _Ava?_ ”

She hit the bag with one more hit, and he saw her wince with the movement. Ava turned, and she plastered a fake smile over her features. “Oh – hi, Odin… I uh… got here early.” He looked to the side. Her gym bag hadn’t been touched.

“ _Bull_. Y-You’ve been here all night.”

She ducked her head a little, normally tan skin looking ashen. “Yeah, it’s fine… I’ve done it before, nothing to worry about.”

Odin took a step forward and clamped his hand over hers, yanking her. “C-Come on, you’ve got to-”

She made a strangled cry and pulled her hand back, cradling it by her stomach. He backpedaled. “Wh-What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she lied between grit teeth. Odin yanked her by her shoulder and pulled her hands forward, unwrapping the gauze she used for padding. As he pulled the last loop off, he recoiled at the sight.

Her knuckles were raw and bleeding, open wounds staining the cloth. They trembled slightly, and just with a glance he could see a few fingers were broken.

“Wh-What’s the meaning of this?!” He demanded, and she looked up at him with exhausted eyes, tears pricking the edges of her eyelids. Whatever anger he had extinguished, and he put a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re not…  _slow_ , with Wrathia. You  _can’t_  be slow with Wrathia.” Odin looked down and spotted the scars that crisscrossed her knuckles and arms, over and over. Her words about “ _I’ve done it before_ ” now seemed far less about dedication and more about fear.

He sighed and pulled her up by the shoulders. “C-Come on. It’s a weekend – you can afford to sleep.”

“If Wrathia-”

“If Wr-Wrathia shows her ugly face in h-here I’ll punch her in the mouth. C-Come on, you can crash at my place.”

She looked thankful suddenly, but as she stood up her legs gave out underneath her and he caught her by her torso. “E-Easy,” he warned as she wobbled up, heavy breaths coming from her as her scarlet eyes began to loll backwards. He hooked an arm under her legs and picked her up, her hands cradled in her lap as he supported her head. “C-Come on, small, dark and gruesome,” he murmured as she fell asleep in his arms “Let’s get you some sleep.”

OOOOO

Ava was safely tucked away in his room, where a training medical assistant friend of his bound up her hands and splinted her fingers correctly. He trusted Gil; he was no rapist or anything. Ava was in trustworthy custody for her recovery.

Odin, meanwhile, waited in the gym for Wrathia to appear.

He was  _livid_.

Ava was swift and lethal, but he never considered what she did – what she was forced to do – to get to that point. And now that he knew the truth about her horrible trainer, he was more than willing to put up a fight.

She entered, that same swagger to her step as her eyes traveled around the gym until spotting him. As expected, she neared up, but stayed about a meter away.

“Where’s Ava?”

He glared. “Getting her hands patched up, from where she broke her skin open training all night.” Wrathia looked unimpressed by the statement.

“That tells me nothing of her location.”

“I’m n-not planning on g-giving you her location.” He stood up, and his indigo glare rivaled Wrathi’s in fury and strength. “D-Don’t ever come back here. I d-don’t want to see your face, I d-don’t even want to hear a word of you from Ava. Leave forever.”

“You think a few threats from a novice will stop me?”

Odin smirked, showing white teeth baring at her. “No. B-But this will.” He handed her a white paper, signed and marked with the Principal’s own handwriting. “Th-This means you are no longer w-welcome in this gym, nor any affiliated gyms, due to your a-abuse of students in the area.”

Wrathia’s eyes skimmed over the page before she went  _furious_ , crushing it in her hand and stomping out of the establishment in pure fury.

And she would never be allowed back in.

Odin waited until she was gone to get up and head back to his room. He had to make sure Ava was alright.

OOOOO

Odin hit people for a living.

He carefully helped Ava re-apply the soothing ointments to her hands as her knuckles healed, and she shot him a bashful smile at the gentleness of his touch.

And it was with gladness in his heart that he knew – soon, she would be able to hit him again.


	16. the mistletoe drabble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell a shut-in 16 year old wrote this kfgnhjfgh,, no but forreal this one was probably one of the cuter ones I wrote, pretty sappy

Ava pulled on the garish sweater self consciously.

 

Her family – from what she could remember – wasn’t religious or wealthy enough to celebrate any holidays with gusto, but the Arrow family was something different. Although they didn’t seem affiliated with any God, they seemed to fully devote themselves to the holiday season, seizing upon colorful plastic lights and decorating a tree.

Ava didn’t have any idea what most of this was about.

She knew about Christmas, but mostly because that meant the TITAN school she was assigned to had a single day off in commemoration. She usually used that time to silently lock herself up in her room. Not any of this.

Odin looked annoyed as his sisters placed a pair of felt reindeer antlers on his head, but he didn’t object. Ava noticed he, too, had an unfortunate sweater on as well.

She sat beside him as brightly wrapped boxes were placed under the tree with care, and she watched in fascination.

“S-Sorry about the ugly s-sweaters,” Odin apologized, sighing lightly.

“What’s all this about, anyway?”

He blinked owlishly a few times before arching an eyebrow. “It’s  _Ch-Christmas_.”

“Yes, but… I mean I know it’s a holiday, but what’s all this?” She gestured to the tree, and the Arrow twins gawked at her.

“It’s tradition!” Raven blurted, staring at Ava as though she’d grown horns. Ava carefully ran a hand down the side of her head – with Wrathia, sprouting horns was an eerie possibility.

“You don’t know about Christmas?” Ava relaxed – no horns. She could safely walk among humanity for another day.

“No, TITAN never celebrated it, and my parents…” she faded out and shrugged. The Arrows looked to the other in awe, before Ava waved a hand nonchalantly. “Look, just… explain stuff to me as it comes along, ok?”

The twins shrugged and continued putting presents under the tree. Ava sat up and tugged on the edge of her ugly sweater a little, cringing at the poor coloration and cartoony Santa on the front. “Hey Odin, I’m gonna go get some hot chocolate. Did you want some?”

Odin smiled softly. “S-Sure. I’ll c-come along.”

The twins spared no time in making a large pot of hot cocoa, so Ava poured a mug for Odin and handed it to him before drinking her own. She took a deep sip, relishing the flavor, while Odin had to blow on his to cool it off.

“Are there any traditions I should be warned about?” Ava asked nervously, brow twisted.

Odin thought a moment, looking to the side as he contemplated. “N-Not really, but I advise y-you avoid the f-fruitcake.”

“Fruitcake? That sounds nice.”

“P-Prepare to be surprised.”

They both stood in the hallway, watching the twins fight over the tape and wrapping paper. Crow had a bow stuck to her face while Raven’s entire left arm had been wrapped in colorful paper. Odin snickered and took a few pictures with his phone. When the twins noticed they began yelling at him, but their objections ceased at the same time as they looked up above Odin.

“OOOOH!” Raven jeered, pumping her arms. “ _OOOOH!_ ”

“Wh-What are you going on about,” Odin asked, taking another sip of his slightly cooled hot chocolate.

Crow pointed upwards with a coy smile, stifling a laugh.

Odin and Ava both looked up. Ava cocked her head. “What’s that little plant?”

Her stark-haired companion made a strangled noise and almost spilled his hot cocoa. “N- _No_  way! Th-This isn’t-”

“It’s tradition!” Raven responded in a singsong voice as she unwrapped her arm.

Ava looked between the siblings nervously, clutching her drink. “What? What’s tradition?”

“D-Don’t you dare,” Odin hissed, but Crow was already up on her feet.

“Christmas tradition dictates that the two people who stand under the mistletoe have to kiss!”

Ava stared at her for a long moment as her skin flared, shifting magma in her skin as her heart rate sped up. “You’re… joking with me… right?” She turned to Odin, and he had buried his violet blush in the palm of his hand as he groaned. “ _Right_?!”

“Pucker up!” Raven teased, but Odin tossed his mostly empty mug at her. The remaining cocoa spattered the ground underneath him a dull brown.

“Th-Th-This isn’t funny,” he warned darkly, anger creasing his brows.

“It’s tradition!” Both the twins pleaded, holding their hands together. “We can even leave the room if you want some… privacy,” Raven suggested, and Ava sighed loudly.

“Look, let’s just make them leave and… get it over with,” she mumbled, trying to rub the magma out of her cheeks as she avoided eye contact with Odin.

The twins clambered out of the room, and Ava turned to Odin. They were both blushing awkwardly, and Odin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Ava took a step forward and tugged on his shoulder slightly. “Lean down,” she mumbled, her face burning “I can’t reach…”

Odin leaned down, and Ava put her hands on the side of his face.  _Just a kiss, just a kiss_ , she repeated to herself, closing her eyes tightly.

Their lips brushed and they froze in place.

They stood like that for a good ten seconds before Odin tried to lean back up, but his foot slipped on the cocoa. Instead, he slipped downwards and shoved his face against Ava’s who could only respond with a wide eyed squeak. His own face was burning with a violent blush by then, and he jerked back, stuttering an apology, his already slick feet caused him to slip backwards, bringing Ava with him.

Ava toppled on top of him, arms splayed around his torso as Odin tried to catch her and ended up hooking his hands onto her hips.

And their mouths were  _still pressed together_. Ava had no idea what to do, this was a very uncomfortable position - even if she sort of liked how he was holding onto her and her arms fit around his chest really well  - and she could almost taste him and it was sweet and pleasant  _but what should she do_ -

Ava panicked as lava rushed up her throat and a moment later they were both on their feet as Odin rinsed cold water though his mouth, and Ava had her hands clamped over hers.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized in a wave of dizzying panic as she swallowed down the sulfur in her mouth “oh my –  _I’m so sorry!_ ”

“My fault,” Odin apologized as he rinsed, wincing. “Th-The cocoa,  _my_  fault, I sl-slipped.”

Raven and Crow burst in right then, both anxious for the result. “Whoa bro,” Raven commented “isn’t that a little harsh?”

He glared at her. “She burnt my tongue, alright?” Raven and Crow both gained expressions of absolute  _delight_  as Odin went “ _W-Wait, that’s not what I-”_

“OOH!” Raven cheered, hooking Ava around her shoulders and shaking her a little. “ _Kinky_! Some tongue action, eh?”

“Oh nooo, oh no  _no_ ,” Ava muttered, burying her face in her hands. Odin was able to drive the twins off with another mug of hot cocoa tossed at them. They scattered to bed after that, and Ava spent the rest of her time cleaning up what was spilled on the floor earlier with a wet cloth.

“Sorry about what happened earlier,” Ava apologized for the millionth time, her cheeks still aching with a fiery blush.

“W-Well… it w- _was_  kind of a disaster,” Odin admitted, drinking an ice water.

“Yeah…” She tossed the wet cloth aside and wiped her hands on her sweater.

“W-We should try again.”

Ava spun around to make sure she wasn’t hearing things, and Odin was looking straight ahead of himself, a purple blush starting to dust along his cheekbones and ears. She swallowed hard and looked down. “…okay,” she replied in a high whisper. He blinked a few times and cleared his throat as he set the drink down.

Odin stepped forward and knelt down so that Ava could reach him without leaning and potentially slipping again. She leaned forward, her eyes once again tightly shut, and his mouth met hers.

The shock was present for only a few seconds this time. She cracked her eyes open and was surprised to find Odin was watching her with those deep indigo eyes, and another magma blush set in her cheeks. She reached up and hooked her fingers around his neck, and Odin slipped his arms around the small of her back and pulled her up a little, causing her to stiffen a little from how close they were. She gasped a little as his hands massaged up the delicate skin of her back, slipping under her sweater. The kiss deepened.

She could almost taste the tang of smoke on him, the lingering sweetness of chocolate.

They pulled apart after a moment, both breathless and both blushing hotly.

“Th-That was better,” Odin muttered lowly as he tried to look to the side, but his arms were still around Ava and her fingers were still hooked around his neck.

“Yeah,” she agreed in a daze, blinking the lava out from where it pooled in the backs of her eyes, causing her sclera to shine gold and bronze. “Is every Christmas like this?”

 “O-Only with you,” he divulged in a tender, whispering voice. Her spine tingled from his tone.

“I think I like this whole Christmas thing,” Ava replied with a bashful smile, pulling him closer to her again. 


	17. that one dragon/royalty AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much to say about this... just seemed to be having fun with magical creatures

Odin could still remember the bite in Olai’s tone as he spoke, uncertainty as they headed towards the unknown.

“ _Dragons are hunting the Royal Families. The House of Arrows is no longer safe within the walls of our castle.”_

 

Raven had sat up then, protesting.  _“But brother-”_

 _“No objections!”_  She sunk back into her seat, black velvet rippling with the movement.  _“We must hide. The Princess’ will be hidden in town – Odin, you will be hidden in the eastern forest. You are the second to the throne,”_ Olai added, grinning in wolfish delight at Odin’s cringe.  _“I’ll be hidden in the Western Wood. We’ll each have a set of servants accompany us.”_

Odin remembered clenching his fists, feeling the fine leather gloves stretch under his grip.

_“If, in two months, there are no Dragon attacks in the Kingdom, we will return.”_

It had been a week.

And Odin was already bored out of his mind.

He knew Olai set him to the woods because this whole dragon business might’ve been his fault in the first place. The unofficial Queen of the dragons, Bellarmina, had brought herself and her reaper-esque husband to one of the celebrations in the kingdom.

Odin  _may_  have gotten into a fistfight with Pedri. He lost of course – he was only twelve at the time, and had only laid a single hit on the bastard’s head – but Nanzegani was not a dragon to forgive and forget. So Olai blamed this whole dragon kidnapping business on him, and he really couldn’t care less.

Odin spent his time twiddling his thumbs and wearing the clothes his family disapproved of. He didn’t like silks and fine linen. So, under the foliage of the forest and far from his family, he wore his leathers and cotton, finally feeling comfortable.

His servants didn’t say anything, but he could feel their disapproval under thick lashes and tightly lips. His hunting partners liked the change, so he ignored the servants.

The small cottage that he was hiding in wasn’t really all that small. The only reason it was hard to spot was because vines and overgrowth had hidden it in the forest, nature and time swallowing it up.

Two servants stepped in. One of them was a maid he knew by the name of Maggie. She had thick emerald curls, and a tight bodice. Her skin was dark and smooth, eyes bright and fierce. She always gave him a leering smile as she passed by, always flirting with the knights. Odin knew she already had her eye on someone particular though, so her never responded to her teasing.

The other was someone he had only seen as of late. A maid, significantly less dignified looking, with long crimson hair that tickled her knees, walked in on bare feet. Her eyes were bright scarlet, and her skin was splotched with tan and ash stains across her cheeks. Her eyes flicked to Odin’s, scarlet pupil tightening in a sea of fire and bronze glowing from her sclera, but she glanced away a second later.

Odin cocked his head a little looking at her.

Maggie stayed to chop up some potatoes as the fire-haired maid set down a crate of salts and spices before retreating back into another room.

“M-Maggie,” and she blinked a little at someone calling her by her name “who was th-that?”

“Who?” She tossed a chopped handful into a pot, simmering over a small fireplace. It was one of many.

“The red haired maid.” He paused. “I h-haven’t seen her before.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and dried her hands on her apron, turning to grab a handful of salt to throw into the boiling potatoes. “Her name’s Ava something-rather. She usually works with the cooks and cleaners, not in services.”

Odin watched the doorway where she stepped out. “I’ve n-never seen her before, th-though.”

“Well she’s an orphan, so the castle took some pity on her and got her a job cleaning up in the basement or something. Beats me.” She paused, and looked a little thoughtful. “She was one of the only maids who knew how to gut and process dead things, so Prince Olai put her in your group, knowing you hunt a lot. Otherwise, I bet she’d still be in the basement of the castle.”

Odin tugged on the edge of his cuffs and pulled out his pipe. “Hmn.” She wasn’t perfect and political, and that was refreshing. And her eyes were so fiery.

“If you wanna know more about her, ask her yourself – your majesty,” she added hastily, realizing how casually she was speaking.

OOOOO

Odin was once again leaning against a tree outside, smoking in a relaxed position in view of the cottage. Maggie passed by him, sending him a coy wink, and he watched her walk away. He knew she had her eye on Olai and was only flirting with Odin as a means for back-up, but she certainly was curvy to look at.

“She’s half nymph, you know.”

He blinked and spun around, spotting Ava watching him with an armful of chopped wood. She was still barefoot, with ash up her legs and hands, and her striking hair was partway draped over her face.

“Ex-Excuse me?”

“Maggie.” She paused, remarkable eyes glancing up to the maid walking away, out of hearing distance. “She’s half nymph. She doesn’t like that you aren’t responding to her.” She started to walk away, through the brambles without wincing “Keep an eye out, half a nymph is still half magic.”

“W-Wait!” He half stood, then thought better of it, and decided to sit up instead. “H-How do you know th-that?”

She made a small humming noise in the back of her throat, and Odin spotted her fingers and elbows spark a little with hot oranges and golds. “I knew her, when she was small. Childhood friends. Something like that.”

“I th-thought she said she didn’t know you.”

Her voice was quiet, and almost metallic to listen to, like two blades grating against each other. “She doesn’t enjoy her association with me. Good day, your majesty.” She began to walk away again, and Odin scrambled to his feet to follow.

“Wh-Why tell me that?” He emptied his pipe out by tapping it against the palm of his hand, burnt ash falling to the ground as he pocketed the wood.

 She stacked the chunks of wood on a diminishing pile, before patting her hands together and walking back out towards the chopping block. She tossed a block of wood onto the block and eyed Odin, and he felt like she was looking past skin and flesh, looking past his bone to his very soul. He felt bare, despite all the layers of leather and cotton he had garbed.

“Just be careful.” She picked up the ax and, with a definite swing, sliced the wood in half easily.

She wouldn’t speak any more than that.

OOOOO

Odin enjoyed hunting. It was a pastime that provided, unlike embroidery and speech proclamations.

He hefted a small buck over his shoulders, the arrow between his fingers the he struck the animal through the heart with. The deer’s antlers bobbed against his back as he carried it into the kitchen and flung it onto the table with a loud thud.

Maggie recoiled and dropped what she was holding, and a few other maids also looked uncomfortable. “Apologies, your majesty,” she murmured under a hand clamped over her face “allow me to fetch someone more qualified for this job.”

He nodded and stepped out a moment to clean up, rinsing water over the bloodstains on the back of his vest. It wasn’t much, but he liked the vest.

As he stepped out, he heard the high pitched  _skkrt skkrt skkrt_  of someone skinning the buck. He walked in and was surprised to find Ava standing on a footstool to reach the table, and without hesitation she began to cut and quarter the meat. He watched from the doorway as she took a chunk and salted it before setting it in a barrel for preservation, and after a few minutes she offered loudly “Is there something you need, your majesty?”

He blinked before stepping in, and she eyed him warily for a moment before continuing her work.

“I h-hadn’t seen you at the c-castle before.”

She rolled her shoulders, long hair covering over her back. “I work in the kitchen, and clean.”

“I u-use the kitchen a lot.” He gestured to the dead game on the table. “Are y-you new?”

She suddenly stabbed the knife she was using into the table and he jumped back a little. Her bright eyes were seen between the slits of narrowed lids. “What do you  _want_?” She was exasperated and treated him casually. It was more startling than the cutlery buried in the tabletop.

“I w-want to know more about you,” he admitted, pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards, his arms leaning on the back of it. “N-No one in this house, in  _my_  house, in th-the wh-wh-whole  _kingdom_  speaks to me like a person. But y-you do.” Her eyes softened and she turned back to quartering the meat. “Wh-Where’re you fr-from?”

“My home was burnt down by dragons when I was five,” she explained quietly, slicing meat and shoving it into the barrel. Odin felt a twist in his gut at how anxious she must’ve been in the same household as a dragon’s target. He cleared his throat awkwardly and tugged on his collar.

“Oh…”

“It’s fine,” she amended hastily, smiling nervously through the blanket of crimson hair, scarlet eyes shining through her fiery locks “It was a long time ago.”

“Wh-Where’d you go afterwards?”

She shrugged and smiled genuinely a little, tugging her hair back. “I wandered for a little bit, doing oddjobs…” Her smile faded. “Some…  _caretakers_  found me.” She uttered the word like a curse, like sulfur slipping through her lips. “I was with them for awhile. Then they thought it would be more beneficial if I worked for the royal family.”

“S-Sounds like you don’t like them,” he offered for the sake of conversation, enjoying the odd sweetness of her voice and her casual attitude towards him.

“I don’t. I’m hiding her as much as you are, your majesty.” She sounded wistful and small, and he put a hand out on her shoulder. She looked startled by the contact.

“O-Odin,” he blurted. She blinked those massive burning eyes of hers. “You c-can call me Odin.”

“That hardly seems appropriate, your ma- Odin,” she rectified mid-word, looking to the left in a fluster.

“L-Look,” he retracted his hand and rubbed his head, ruffling his stark hair a little “I d-don’t want a servant right n-now, ok? I w-want a  _friend_.”

She glanced up to him and her eyes softened once more, and he again felt like she was looking through flesh and bone. “You sympathize with my position.”

He blinked, feeling foolish and confused.

“We are both set in our roles. I am a servant. You are a Noble. You sympathize that we are both unappreciated in our sects.”

“I…” he paused, and planted his hands on the table instead of her shoulders. “Y-Yeah. I guess so.”

She turned around and hummed a little again, but this time he heard something grating and saw a little tendril of smoke. “Alright. I will be your friend, Odin Arrow.”

She suddenly snickered.

“But first you should probably get your hands off the table – you’re staining your cuffs.”

He jerked his hands back, and felt his ears go hot at the slight lilting tones of her laughter.

OOOOO

Ava was wonderful company.

She spoke as thought she knew the dictations of any kingdom, and quoted many verses from literature he recognized. For being an orphaned servant, she certainly was cultured.

Olai had been sending messages through various people – never the same person twice.

This time, it was a sapphire skinned healer, one with silver hair and bright eyes. Word was the Apothecary Doctor Marverde ran was best in the kingdom, so many ignored his faerie bloodline.

This time, Marverde was the messenger, and Maggie spared no time in trying to flirt with him. Odin watched her carefully – he did not think her a scoundrel for her actions, she was free to flirt with whomever she pleased – but it certainly was tiring.

“What’s your name, again?” Maggie persisted, leaning against the doorway as Odin skimmed over the letter Olai had sent him. It was another update – still no dragons. They were almost a month in, so there was much relief to Odin’s thoughts.

“Just… Marverde,” the doctor replied nervously, looking to the side and shifting his cloak. “If that’s all, your majesty-”

Odin, as well as Marverde, spotted Ava’s shimmering crimson hair as she padded on bare feet into the opposite room, carrying a basket of herbs. She hesitated and blinked a few times. “Gil?”

“Ava?” Doctor Marverde’s countenance broke into a white grin as he stepped forward and cupped Ava’s ashen hands into his own. “Ava, how are you? It’s been so long!”

Ava smiled and nodded in reply, in her quiet way, but Marverde continued. “Are you… alright?”

She paused, and his blue hands tightened on hers. “It has gone as expected, from  _her_.”

Marverde glanced around the room and muttered an “Excuse us” before pulling both Ava and himself to the other room, where Odin listened at the door.

“Listen, if you need somewhere, Nevy and I still have open doors.”

“Gil, it’s-”

“I mean it, you know! We’ve still got space.”

“Gil, its  _fine_. And you know I’d go to you if I needed the help.” Odin heard a tense silence fill the room, before barely audible, he heard Ava whisper gently “She’s not so bad. I’ve dealt with her this long. It’s not too hard to deal a little longer.”

A sigh. “Alright. But we’ll always be there, ok?”

Odin retreated from the door as the neared it, and he took great effort in looking like he wasn’t listening in on their situation.

Gil walked to the door, and Maggie offered “I can walk you to your horse!” but he shook his head, silver hair gleaming like fish scales underwater.

“That’s not necessary,” he declined, but his eyes lingered on Ava for a second too long as he bid his farewell.

Odin would ask Ava about that later.

OOOOO

“S-So what was that with you and D-Doctor Marverde?”

Ava stopped slicing potatoes a moment to cock her head at Odin in an avian fashion. “What, Gil? I met him a few years ago, after the Dragon attack. His family was killed by them too, so we’re pretty good friends. I made a few friends like that.”

Odin felt his hands clench into fists from stress as he leaned back in the wooden chair. “…A-Are you in any kind of trouble?”

“Pardon?”

“Are you  _in t-trouble_? With th-the black market, or something.”

She laughed again, light as fire and slick as smoke. “ _My_  kind of trouble. Don’t fret about it, Odin.”

He relaxed as she used his name casually again. He found it increasingly hard not to go red in the face when she used his name so –  _normally_.

OOOOO

Olai had decided for the Royal Family to head home early. A little more than a month with no Dragon attacks in even the far provinces, so it was considered safe until further notice.

Odin found his room too large and too luxurious, too soft and thick smelling. He liked the smell of the woods, pine and sap. This castle was a trap of perfume.

“Why so sullen,” his sisters teased at the dinner table, as his meat was too thickly spiced. Ava always cooked the meat right.

“No reason,” he hissed, indigo eyes almost flaring under a glare.

Of course there was a reason – Ava was being stuffed back up in the basement, and there wasn’t any way he could contact her anymore. He hadn’t even met her until she was dragged from the bowels of the cellar.

Once again Odin was stuck studying things he didn’t want to know, nor would find any use for. He was second in line for the throne, but Olai had firmly seated himself there, so Odin had no plans for that spot.

He had seated himself on a statue outside, and was smoking to calm his nerves. He had seen Maggie, but whenever he inquired about Ava he was brushed off with a few brusque and impertinent words about how the Halfling-nymph had to go “clean something” and he never received an answer.

In hindsight, he brooded a lot.

He turned to hop off the statue, and the foundation of the castle quaked underneath him.

He felt his blood go to ice as a watchman shouted from the highest tower “ _Dragon!_ ”

Odin slipped down the statue and headed for the main hall, looking up to see a fiery, magma figure in the sky, a pair of long blazing wings lighting the very sky aflame.

Wrathia Bellarmina – the self proclaimed Queen of the Dragons.

Her massive maw opened to show boiling slag drip down black teeth, wide pupils flicking down to the castle as he saw magma shifting under the scales of her throat.

She landed with wicked claws tearing into the soil of the vast garden, and she looked at Odin. Thick lips pulled back to show vicious fangs, gleaming as what grass was left burned as liquid fire dripped onto the ground in front of her.

Odin couldn’t move.

Wrathia made a low, chuffing noise, face wrinkling as she pulled her jaw wide, so wide he could see the deep chasm of her throat where her fire bulged and frothed.

He couldn’t make his legs work – his mind screamed for him to run, but he felt as helpless as the deer he hunted only a few weeks ago.

There was a gush of heat, but not from Wrathia, and Odin pulled back as a smaller dragon, with scarlet eyes, brighter than Wrathia’s golds, fired upon the Queen. The Dragon pulled back with a hiss as the smaller dragon released an inferno upon the Royal Drake, and Odin flinched back as the dragon passed him, scales bright like drops of blood, and a thick mane like crimson.

Wrathia hissed something, jaws and lips forming words to a language he couldn’t understand, but the dragon in front of him replied in human tongue.

“ ** _This place is protected. Leave_**.” The words were clipped and feral, sharp and short as a broken stick.

Wrathia flapped her wings in fury and snarled, replying in human dialect “ ** _We should have never used you!_** ” She fired her own burning wrath upon them, and as Odin slammed his back against the wall, thinking once again he was going to die a burning death, the unknown dragon’s wings opened and cupped the flame, channeling it like a bowl away from him.

The unknown dragon roared and snapped at Wrathia, jaws clamping around the soft spot under the Queen’s throat, and the Royal Drake lashed out with wicked black talons, tearing along the front of the unknown dragon.

The fight lasted for only a few seconds longer before Wrathia, bloodied from the mystery dragon, spat a few words out in her native tongue and reverted back to her more humanoid form, slipping into the shadows on two feet.

The unknown dragon snickered at her and turned around, blazing eyes locking Odin in place. Odin could see there were guards creeping about, watching and waiting for a the moment when either they could attack or Odin could retreat – but scarlet eyes with bronze sclera turned soft as wings retraced, horns pulled back through crimson hair, and magic danced in the air as the dragon took on a mortal form.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

It was Ava.

“Get her!” Odin couldn’t scream out a ‘stand down’ before all his guards pummeled her to the torn up ground, and another pulled him away from the scene.

He fought back, but to no avail – the last he saw of Ava was a pair of bright eyes looking out from a sea of steel armor.

OOOOO

Odin didn’t know what to say as Ava was brought up before the royal family in thick chains around her wrists and wards drawn over her skin, her front bloodied from her fight with Wrathia and other wounds sustained from the guards.

“Who are you, and what is your reason for being here?” Olai spoke with a business-like tone, but Odin could see him bobbing his knee nervously.

She turned and stared at Olai, and Odin recognized that his older brother must’ve been feeling stripped of body by her sight too.

“My name is Ava Ire,” she announced in a clear, metallic tone, almost sharp but not lethal. “I am the last of the Royal Ire line in the Drake lineage. I am here to kill Wrathia Bellarmina.”

Odin blinked. The last of the royal dragon line? Then that meant…

_“My home was burnt down by dragons when I was five,” her voice quiet and dull._

“Why kill Wrathia, your Queen?”

“She killed my family to attain that title, your majesty. She deserves that title as much as you deserve your crown.” Her words were full of venom, and Odin felt his brother prickle at the insult.

“What’s stopping me from just killing you, little Princess?”

Her eyes burned, and Odin recoiled from the fury as her skin surged with fire, the shackles on her hands falling to pieces as she took a step forward. The shackles burnt the carpet as molten metal, and all the guards took a step back.

“You cannot.”

Crow and Raven spoke up then. Crow was first – she was more logical. “So you disguised yourself as a maid to find and kill Bellarmina?”

“No.” Her eyes flicked over to Odin for a fraction of a second before turning to his sisters. “I was under her service and was sent here to assassinate you all.”

A murmur went through the guards and whatever nobles hadn’t retreated in fear of another attack. “Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you kill us like the big angry lizards you are?” That was Raven. She lacked subtlety.

“You seem to think dragons like being under a set rule. We don’t. Wrathia is not a dragon from these lands – she is a Demon Drake, and therefore her culture is vastly different from ours. My people do not attack unless provoked. Wrathia does the provoking.”

Olai sat forward, bobbing his knee again in thought. “A revolution from the last standing princess? That sounds poetic and all, but what other reason did you not kill us all?”

“I sympathized with one of you.” She paused, shifting her weight onto one foot as her thick hair shifted in the movement. It was such a casual gesture the guards seemed even more unnerved by her. “The rest of you I could do without – no real life skills that are worth anything. But dragon culture is not mortal culture.” Odin felt his face go hot, and tried to hide it from his siblings who looked among themselves for which of them was chosen by this dragon.

Odin spoke up. “What will you do now?” His voice was warm, his tone inviting. He was giving her a way out.

She smiled a little, tugging on a lock of hair absently. “You can either join me in this fight against Wrathia and her husband, or let me go. There is no in-between.”

“So you have no allies?” Olai asked haughtily.

Her smile went taut, muscles twitching as her eyes flared again. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Water suddenly broke the doors off their hinges, making the guards fall over from the force of it. It was bright and parts of it were glowing like ancient and rare ocean fish, and it gushed around the room, pulling people to their feet. The thrones were up higher, and Odin scrambled from his as water splashed over his siblings.

This was terrifying. He had no love of water.

It suddenly pulled back, like a hand tugging on cloth. His guards were sputtering water and groaning as they stood up, and a being of flashing pink corals and blue hues stepped through the door.

“Ava? Are you ok?” The nymph-like creature glided through the doorway and cupped her hands over Ava’s own, bubbles following the movement. “Oh, you’re hurt! Come on, Gil is waiting with a carriage outside. Tuls has a place off in the woods no one can find, but we have to go, now!”

Ava spared a glance back at Odin, and he glanced between her and his family, wringing out their clothes.

He slid down from the throne and started after Ava and her mer-friend. He cared for his family, but if Ava was  _stopping_  Wrathia…

“You’re coming  _along_?” Her coral-horned friend asked in surprise as they loaded hastily into a chariot and sped into the woods.

“I’ll g-get more done stopping Wr-Wrathia than learning about etiquette,” he replied loudly as Gil swerved past a tree in the rocky woodland.

“Oooh, I  _like_  him,” the nymphish creature replied, but Gil screamed a reply while shakily steering wild hroses.

“Nevy can you help a moment?!” Nevy, in a liquid movement, transferred to the front of the carriage where she took hold of the reigns.

“I wasn’t expecting you to come along,” Ava admitted as they rocked around, her skin flaring from the adrenaline rush.

“Y-Yeah, well, I s-sympathize with you.”

Ava laughed as they drove towards the unknown, but for once, Odin was glad of it.


	18. a drabble + the arrow family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember when we thought odin grew up on like a hick farm? god those were the times

Ava adored the fresh fruit that Odin’s family provided.

Being an independent sect, they had their own orchards, and were heavily agriculturally adept. One of the first weeks she was staying there, the world alien and dark, still homesick for the quiet solace of her old school dorm, Odin had given her a gift.

She had been sitting at a wooden table beside Maggie and Gil as they did various chores. Ava had learned how to sew up her own clothes when Wrathia would pull something back at the academy, so the Arrows were delighted when they found she was a bit of a seamstress. She was slowly sewing up shirts, pulling side to side together, loop at a time, as Maggie and Gil washed potatoes.

Odin had stepped in, and a gush of sweet wind rushed through the door. He was carrying a wicker basket under his arm, and he set it on the table.

Ava sat up, smiling a little as he entered. “Hi,” and she held up the dark shirt in her hands. “I, uh, stitched up your shirt.”

He blinked, bright indigo hidden under half lidded eyes as he muttered out a “Thanks” before snatching it from her hands. Ava took no offense, as his cheeks were dusted with a blush. He was probably just embarrassed that a girl was messing with his clothes. “H-Here. Th-This is for you.”

Ava turned back up from her work as he tossed her an apple. It was massive, and she had to use both her hands to catch it.

It smelled wonderful. She hadn’t had an apple since she was a little girl, back on her parent’s homeworld, and the apple she had eaten was small and red, the surface waxy. This apple was yellow and cherry colored, and the skin was as soft as velvet.

“Aw, yess!” Maggie pumped a hand as she pulled an apple out of the basket and she passed one to Gil, who thanked Odin graciously. “I haven’t had an apple in forever!” She bit eagerly through the surface, and it crunched under her gnaw.

Gil meanwhile peeled his and sliced it up into paper-like sections, flat on top of each other, and he ate it slice at a time.

Ava sniffed the apple, taking in its scent. It was  _heavenly_  to eat something natural and real. Before she could bite through the velvety skin, Odin snatched it from her hand and sliced it cleanly into star sections, placing the pieces on a plate in front of Ava before slicing his apple the same way.

“Oh! Thank you.” Ava wasn’t certain why he sliced it, but it made it easier to eat and easier to smell, so she thought nothing of it as she popped a slice into her mouth. She liked the orange Odin had offered her a few days ago, but this was a flavor she recognized and trusted, so she relished the taste and the wedges.

Odin watched her out of the corner of his eye before eating the slices he had cut for himself.

OOOOO

That night at the mess table, Ava sat quietly at the far corner of the table as she ate her rations. The meat was good – a little too burnt to her, for some reason, but good anyway. The dinner rations that night had come with a pear and she felt along its pebbly green surface, marveled. Fresh fruit was so rare on the TITAN planet she had been sloughed off to that she cherished every bit, as though she might never have a bite again.

Once again, Odin was sitting next to her, and he took the pear from her before cleanly slicing it into sections with an ebony handled knife. After putting the sections onto her platter, he did the same with his own pear and ate as though he’d done nothing.

“Thanks again,” she nudged him a little with her elbow, and he responded with a low, grunting noise in response.

As she started to eat, Crow and Raven watched them both with cat’s grins.

“Say, Odin, nice of you to slice up Ava’s fruit like that,” Raven teased aloud, leaning her elbows on the table and cradling her chin in her hands. “I mean, it’s  _really_  thoughtful, all things considered.”

Gil was once again peeling and thinly slicing his fruit, and he hesitated, blinking large sapphire eyes. “Ah, what sort of things considered?”

Crow was cutting up her own fruit into chunks as well, and she explained eagerly “TITAN doesn’t really like us having our own farmlands and the such. One time, they found out where one of our orchards was located. Ever heard of a B-18?”

Maggie was polishing up the rest of her food, saving the precious pear for last. “A bee-what?”

“A  _B-18._  It’s a small bomb, roughly the size of a battery, easily hidden.” She took a bite of her pear slice. “TITAN’s people hid a few of them in a few fruits, and a few of our men got a  _surprise_. Now, we tend to slice up our fruit for fear of the same surprise.”

Maggie, who was halfway biting into her pear, slowly opened her mouth and set the pear down. She spat a few times, wiping her mouth as she poked the pear on her platter, half a bite into the fruity flesh. “Odin, what the  _hell_?! You were just gonna  _watch me_  eat a bomb?”

“Th-The chances of a bomb b-being in your fruit is pretty slim,” he replied tiredly, brushing black hair from his eyes.

Raven grinned and twirled a lock of hair in her fingers. “But not chances you would take with  _Ava_ , hmn?”

Ava turned to look at Odin, but he was stubbornly turned the other direction, his arms firmly folded. She could see his ears burning with a blush though, and Ava attempted to hide her own skin from illuminating the table as she pulled her jacket tighter around her and cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Uhm… thanks again, Odin…”

He stiffened a little, and his usually hardened and loud voice lowered to a soft whisper. “…You’re w-welcome.”

“You guys gonna go make out now?”

Odin threw his mended shirt at the twins, face burning violet while Ava stifled the flame in her veins. 


	19. another drabble + pacted odin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we've finally hit 2015... and I didn't even add all the drabbles so far....

Ava felt large hands settle on her shoulders, and she leaned back into a broad chest automatically. “Odin,” she greeted in a quiet, hoarse voice, and she felt the rumble of his lungs as he exhaled a mouthful of violet smoke.

“Ava,” he responded warmly, and she shivered with the affection in his tone. “G-Going over Wrathia’s plan again?”

She nodded, and she braced herself as his fingers began winding through her hair easily, like he had practice with locks so hot and thick. He hummed as he twisted her hair into thick braids, even and shimmering in the dim lighting of her room. Ava felt herself relaxing as she read over the book, thinking of other things.

After binding her hair in a thick braid, Odin put his arms around her shoulders and leaned his face in her neck from behind. She leaned into the touch on instinct, relishing in his affection and adoration.

This wasn’t right.

 

Ava pulled away first, running her claws hands along her arms and shivering.

“Are y-you cold?” Odin asked, concerned, already pulling on the blanket that was half-hazardly splayed on her bed.

Ava sighed and shut her eyes tightly. This wasn’t right at all.

Odin had been acting affectionate towards her after making his pact. She enjoyed the attention, although it was a little strange. However, it had grown into unrestrained adoration of the girl as he was always protective of her and proud of anything she did.

It was because of Pedri.

He loved her because of Pedri, Ava was certain of it.

Just as Ava couldn’t help but lean into his arms and breath in his scent, feel the brush of his lips over her temple and their hands interlocked, fingers twined together, because of Wrathia.

This wasn’t real.

But Ava couldn’t help herself. It had been so long since she had any sort of positive actions toward her, and even though she knew it was Pedri influencing Odin, she still wanted his touch. Even if it was fake, she still kept those moments of closeness and tender touch close to her heart.

She couldn’t help being selfish.

“I’m alright,” she responded quietly, the lie slipping like bitter silk between bronze canines. She could feel Odin hesitate, the heat behind her eyes far stronger than her original human senses.

“A-Ava… It’s…” She turned and saw Odin rubbing the back of his head nervously, one of his legs hanging off the edge of her bed and bobbing slightly. “…P-Pedri wants to m-meet his wife.”

Ava nodded, feeling the fire in her gut lurch.

“H-He told me you knew h-how to make that happen.”

She turned away and felt over her thick skin, no longer human – she felt up the sides of her face, past tipped ears and up to pointed horns.

“You won’t like it,” she replied, dropping her hands onto the bed. She felt Odin’s hand over her own and a great knot built in her heart, her throat began to feel thick.

“I-I’m sure it’s n-not all that bad.”

She took in a shaky breath and sighed steadily. “We… have to sleep together.” His hand over hers went tense, and she sputtered “N-Not in the sexual way, just… sleeping in close proximity.”

“W-Well, that’s n-not…” he paused, and Ava felt her back tingle as he leaned forward and asked almost pressed his chest into her back “…Why w-would that be a  _bad_  thing?”

She dropped her eyes, looking at her molten skin and clawed hands. Odin hadn’t taken his vial yet – he could still pass for human.

She wasn’t vengess or human – she had a foot in each area, and it hurt her to think that Odin loved something like her under false pretenses.

“W-Well, it’s about time to go t-to bed.” There was little change to Odin after he had pacted and escaped danger. His skin tinted violet sometimes, and his eyes flashed scarlet on rare occasions, but nothing more. It was in this moment, as he glanced at her sidelong, that his sclera flashed crimson in the dark. “W-Would you m-mind – I m-mean, if y-you’re not uncomfortable-”

Ava sighed and deftly brushed the pads of her fingers over the skin of his forearm. He stopped short as she replied quietly “Its fine. We should get to sleep.”

It felt so easy to turn off the light, and settle down. It was easy to nestle down, it felt natural as Odin cautiously put an arm around her and she pressed her face into his collarbone.

It felt so natural, and that’s how Ava knew it must have been fake.

As she felt Odin breathing beside her, the world spun into darkness. A moment later, she opened her eyes and saw the dark, endless drawers of her mind.

Wrathia was nowhere to be found – she figured the Vengess had already fled to find her husband.

Ava wandered her mind, until finding what she dreaded.

Her drawers were a manifestation of the things she blocked, the memories and emotions she smothered and locked up so she wouldn’t feel them. They were moments she treasured, others she hated, and some were buried so deep she could barely feel them.

There were moments she treasured.

A single drawer sat in front of her, the insignia of an arrow carved into the wood.

Her hands shook as she ran her fingers along the wood, only a figment of her mind, but it still meant so much.

What Odin felt towards her was fake.

What she felt was real.

Ava curled up and leaned her head against the drawer, feeling warmth pool over the front of her eyes as tears streaked down her cheeks.

She was so selfish.

Maybe, with Pedri meeting Wrathia, Odin would come to his senses and realize the girl he thought he liked was actually a little broken chimera.

“A-Ava?”

She spun around, eyes wide as Odin stood behind her. His mind-clothing was what she had first met him in, black coat and shirt, dark pants. He looked awkward.

Couldn’t this wait until they woke up?

She wiped her eyes. “Hi, Odin… f…found my mind, huh?” she asked in a faux humorous tone, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Wh-Why were you crying?” He sounded so gentle and genuine that Ava couldn’t lie to him. She couldn’t.

Her voice cracked as she responded “This isn’t real, Odin.” His eyes widened and he stepped forward, but she took a step back. “You – You only  _think_  you like me, because of Pedri. You don’t, not really.”

“H-How would you know that?” he asked, and his tone was almost angry.

Ava spun around, biting back “Because no one can  _honestly_  love me!” The drawers of her mind were shuddering like her breathes, the wood creaking as slowly as the tears that dripped down her face.

Odin was stunned into silence, his mouth moving but no words were coming out. He glanced over Ava’s shoulder, and she realized he was looking at the drawer that represented what she loved about him.

She took a step in front of the drawer to block the view, looking away from Odin and feeling her hair block her view of  _him_. She was ashamed of what she had said, and how she hadn’t said it sooner. It would have been better if she didn’t let him sleep beside her that night.

Suddenly, Ava was yanked aside as Odin’s hand clamped tightly over her wrist. “What’re you doing,” she asked shakily as he pulled her along, but he didn’t say a word. Ava didn’t have the strength to stop him – let Odin drag her somewhere, let him try to convince her. It didn’t matter now. The truth was out.

They stumbled though the blackness of her mind, until they came upon a doorway. He pulled her forward and put an arm around her shoulders as he made them step through together, and Ava felt something like a cool bubble burst on her face as she was no longer in her mind.

She was in a thick forest, dark and shadowed. Each tree had a gallery painting on it, and Ava recognized pictures of his sisters and brother on multiple trees. “Odin-”

“T-Trust me,” he interrupted, and she didn’t resist as he pulled her along.

His mind was no brighter than hers, but it was open. She could see what he thought about – hers was so shut she herself couldn’t even look in.

Ava was looking down at her feet as she was pulled along by Odin and his supportive hands.

“L-Look up.”

Ava dragged her gaze up the bark of a bronze tree, and she did a double take at the picture that was settled in the smooth wood.

It was a picture of herself. She was looking over her shoulder halfway, a small smile on her face, as though someone snapped a shot of any moment of her greeting Odin. Her horns were shining in the sunlight in the picture, her skin flushed a deep crimson mixed with bright gold.

“What is this?” she asked breathily, trying to step away from the picture but Odin’s arm keeping her in place.

“M-Maybe we’re not so fake as you th-think.” Ava finally turned to look at him, and his cheeks were flushed a deep violet. “M-Maybe our demons influence us and m-make it easier to l-like each other, but I’m n-not – I’m not  _fake_.”

Ava was staring at him in complete awe. The impossible, the  _unthinkable_ , just happened.

“I d-do like you, but if y-you don’t-”

Before he could finish, Ava threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She was hiccupping as her tears changed from fear to relief, sputtering into his collar “I didn’t think you liked me, I didn’t think you could have ever-”

Odin wrapped his arms around her torso and squeezed her tightly, burying his face into her hair.

“We’re real, A-Ava.  _We’re real_.”

The world dissolved into silver lights as Ava woke up.

The room was dark, but she could recognize Odin’s scent where she had pressed herself into his chest, and his arms were wrapped tightly around her while his hands settled at the small of her back.

For once, she didn’t shy away from his grip – she didn’t feel guilty.

She felt…

Loved.


	20. the one where Ava is a thief

Odin was shoved against the dumpster and he winced as pain shot up his spine. He dropped his backpack as another gang member shoved him to the ground, and he felt the rotting garbage under the palms of his hands.

“Is th-this usually where you corner people?” Odin chuckled, wiping a rivulet of blood from his forehead. The gang was the Scavengers, all reds and blacks. They prickled in anger at Odin’s insolence, and he felt the sting of a cold, heavy chain snap across his face.

As he cradled his nose, feeling the ache slowly settle into his bones, Odin decided he really ought to move. This was no neighborhood to live in.

However, before he could tense for another blow from the gang, he heard the dull snap of a lighter being flicked open and closed again.

“You’re playing with  _fire_ , boys.”

 

The scavengers spun around, and although their faces were covered by large red goggles and black bandanas, he could see their arms tense and spines go taut in fear. He looked up, and although one of his eyes was already swelling, he could still see the figure of a girl standing under one of the only street lamps in the whole alleyway.

She flicked the lighter again, only she didn’t shut it. Turning, he saw white teeth baring a grin, and eyes that burned like the flame she held in her hands. Her hair moved like a great scarlet mass as she stepped forward, thickly rubber soled boots hitting the pavement hard enough to echo.

“Shit!” one of them whispered “it’s her!”

“We need to get outta here-”

“It’s fire Ire!”

“We have to  _move_ -”

Odin quirked an eyebrow as the scavengers began to back up, intimidated by the plaid skirted girl that approached them. Her tight grin was  _feral_  as she pulled up a metal canister and took a deep mouthful. The scavengers stumbled back and began retreating then, and Odin ducked.

She seemed to breathe fire as the pure alcohol hit the flame and scattered in a great burst, an inferno from her throat. The scavengers scattered into the dark as some of them were burned by her blaze.

“Next time I find ya in my territory, you’ll be goin’ to the crematory!” She snarled at the scavengers as they fled, and her teeth were like the ivory of the wild cats that hid under the cover of night. She turned and eyed Odin, putting the metal canister away and instead taking a swig of some energy drink she had in the pocket of her leather coat. “You alright, big guy?”

He nodded in a daze, but before he could collect his bag the fire breather picked it up and tossed it over one shoulder. She held out a hand to help him up. “The name’s fire Ire, but you can call me Ava.” She winked as he clasped his grime covered hand around her leather-bound one, but she didn’t seem to care. At her gesture, he flushed and felt his ears go hot.

“F-Fire Ire?” He paused. “S-Street name?”

“Some know me,” she replied casually, looking around the metal grated stairs that led to the various outer doors of the surrounding apartments. Her eyes narrowed and her bright hair stood on end. “Let’s go.”

“W-Wait,” Odin narrowed his eyes, wiping his hands on his pants. “Wh-Why help me?”

“You work at that Café across the way, right?” Odin nodded. “You’re the only employee that doesn’t give me cold cocoa or burn my pastries.”

“B-Because I make your f-food right, you rescued me?”

“Well, yeah.”

He was going to tub his face in exasperation, but found the wounds that cut across his cheeks were too severe not to cause him pain when his fingers ran along his skin. Ava winced in sympathy. “Come on big fella, let’s get over to my pad. I can fix up your face.”

Odin felt nervousness slither up his stomach and he swallowed hard. “N-No, its fine, j-just give me my bag and I’ll b-be on my way-” Ava suddenly yanked on his arm, hard. He staggered over as she whispered in his ear.

“Scavengers retreat and come back with reinforcements. I’m not gonna save your ass twice, so if you wanna live through the night, you  _will_  follow me.” Odin searched her face for any sign of comedy, any quirk in her eyes that showed she was joking, but there was only fierce anger.

“…A-Alright,” he complied, and she released his arm from her iron grip.

Although it was dark, Ava seemed to know exactly where she was going. Odin would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous, but the hothead had already rescued him and hadn’t smashed his face in and stole his stuff, so she was a comrade for the moment.

“Y-You know where I w-work, right?” She replied with a single nod as she inspected around the corner of an abandoned apartment and signaled for him to keep walking. “Wh-Where do you work?”

“Eh? I don’t work.”

“Th-Then how-”

Her white smile once again split through the darkness, blood red eyes brightening. “I steal stuff from people.”

Odin automatically felt his pockets for his wallet, and felt relief when it was still there. “Is-Isn’t that, you kn-know, morally  _wrong_?”

“Morals, here in the big smoke?” She clapped his back with her small hand, and it stung against his bruises. “You sure got it  _sweet_ , big guy.”

“I-I’ve got a name, you know,” he hissed as he rubbed his back.

She turned around another corner, looking around and inspecting the area for any danger. “Uh, yeah, Odin right?” He nodded and stalked along beside her, feeling crummy. He just got beat up by a gang, and now he had to follow a thief to survive. “Well Odin, you’ll only have to stay at my place until I patch your face up.”

She approached a very run down building, wood rotting and the metal rusting. She hopped over a broken fence and gestured for Odin to follow along, and he did so reluctantly.

Ava kicked her door down. It fell off the hinges and hit the floor with a clatter, and she stepped on it as she entered. Odin tried to dodge the door as he stepped in, and he was greeted by several emerald stares in the dark.

“They’re just the local strays, don’t mind em’ and they won’t mind you.”

Odin continued following Ava, and the eyes of the feral cats followed him. He felt like he was in some sort of surreal world, like what he was experiencing should only be in movies and Laundromat novels.

She kicked a wall and the light flickered on, a dull yellow. Dust rose from where she stepped, and it clung to her legs. Odin followed her footprints in the fine dirt that layered the ground. Looking around, the whole building looked like it was condemned and could come down at any moment, but she was still living here.

He felt something hit his face, and it stung for only a moment as he realized it was icy. As he set his fingers on it, it was a frozen bag of corn. It was long expired, probably frostbitten to pieces. However, the coldness of it felt good on his face.

“I use it for when I get a little beat.” Odin watched her as she stepped on a stack of books and opened a decaying cabinet, pulling out bandages and antiseptic ointment. Odin was surprised when she shoved his chest so he went flying backwards, but he landed in a chair instead of on the ground. She pulled a chair in front of him and began working on his face, using cotton swabs to clean the chain wound on his nose.

“Y-You don’t have to-”

“Be quiet and appreciate it. I don’t coddle just  _anybody_ , so shut your trap.”

Odin did indeed shut his trap, instead finding studying Ava’s face much more interesting. She had scars over her cheeks, and a few fading bruises. Her eyes weren’t as hard as she bandaged his nose and forehead carefully, instead they seemed soft and sweet.

“Finished, Odin.”

He blinked. “…Thanks.”

She stood and opened up another cabinet, where she pulled out a water bottle and began rinsing her hands. “Welcome.” She handed the half empty bottle to Odin, and he rinsed off the remaining grime on his palms. As he did so, Ava went to the nearby broken window and checked outside. “Hmn. The coast looks clear – you can head back to your joint whenever you want.”

“I c-couldn’t see anything outside.”

“That’s cuz’ you weren’t lookin’ like I was.” She leaned back against the glass and shrugged. “Listen big guy, if you’re cornered again, feel free to crash here.”

He quirked and eyebrow and picked up his bag where it sat by the door. “Th-This is an awful lot for me n-not burning your food.”

“I also think you’re hot.” He staggered where he stood, and when he spun on his heel to look at Ava, she was turned the other way and was kneading her thick scarlet hair in her hands. “So don’t worry about it,” she said gruffly, trying to hide the squeak in her voice.

He scratched behind his head and set the cold bag down, mumbling “Y-You can crash at my place too…”

Before Ava could reply, Odin ran out the door and began weaving his way through the alleyways to find his apartment. As he approached his room, he felt the bandages on his face and smiled a little.

OOOOO

Odin could spot Ava in the line at the café now that he knew her face. She was no softer to him than she was to others, but he talked to her casually and she would crack a smile once in a while. At one point, he saw her slip quick fingers into a passerby’s pocket and whip out their wallet, picking through the different ID’s and eventually seizing upon the paper cash before tossing the stolen object into the lost and found. With any other person he would have narrowed his eyes and reported them, but he saw how Ava was living. She also rescued him. He wouldn’t stab her in the back.

One night, he sat in his cozy apartment and flicked through the TV idly. There wasn’t much on, and he didn’t have work the next day, so he stayed up late.

There was a knock on his door and it was so abrupt he nearly fell out of his chair. Carefully opening the door, someone shoved their way through, saying aloud “You got any peroxide? I ran out like a month ago.”

He spun around and could see Ava’s long, scarlet hair and bright smile. “Wh-What’re you doing here?” He turned on the light, and was startled to find her cradling her arm and sporting a series of wounds.

She had a gash under one eye and enough bruises to show even through her tan, thick skin in deep violets and pooling blues. She was clutching her shoulder, and blood ran between her fingers. She had pulled off the bandana around her neck and tied it around the wound to stifle the bleeding, but it seemed to persist.

“Wh-Wh-What  _happened_  to you?!”

She shrugged and coughed into her hand a little, and the noise sounded painfully wet. “Got in a fight. End up TITANs don’t like it when ya stab em’ a little.”

“Th…The TITANs?” he blanched, leaning over a little as she settled herself by sitting on his kitchen counter. “Th-The private police force, the TITANs?”

“Yeah,” she waved a hand idly “those assholes. They were playin’ with fire by pickin’ on my Vengess teammates, so I decided it was time they get burned.” She winced a little and her fingers dug into her shoulder.

“H-Here, let me help with that.” Odin neared her and began prying away the layers of cloth she had set over the wound, and he recoiled at how deep the cut went. He could see the white flash of bone and the wet red that slowly bled onto his hands.

“It’s fine, I just wanted somethin’ to clean it.” Ava tried to pull away, but sobered with pain as Odin began cleaning it for her. He had already set out cotton swabs and various methods to disinfect the wound, and although it was not comfortable, Ava did not make a noise throughout the entire process.

“Y-You should really go s-see a doctor for this,” he commented, trying to keep conversation as he wrapped the wound.

“I was gonna. His name’s Marverde, old friend of mine. He’s kind of a mob doctor, but he knows his trade well enough.”

“A r- _real_  doctor, Ava.”

She snickered. “You think I can afford that?”

Odin didn’t know how to respond to that, so he said instead “H-How did you know where I lived anyway?”

“It’s not hard, you smoke like, every five minutes. I could just follow the butts of your cigarettes.”

“Uh, r- _rude_.”

Ava grinned at him, still smudged with dirt and bruises rising under her skin. She lightly punched him in the arm. “Well, thanks for helpin’ a girl out, big guy.”

“I w-was hoping maybe I c-could  _ask_  a girl out.”

Ava blinked her wide eyes and pointed her herself with her good hand. “Uh,  _this_  girl?”

Odin brushed his black bangs from his eyes and awkwardly responded “Y-Yeah, th… that girl.”

Ava’s eyes widened before she laughed, hooking her fingers around his neck and pulling him into a half hug. “That was sappy,” she remarked with a grin “but hell yes.”

Odin felt his heart flutter.

“You’re totally paying on the date though.”Ava paused, before her eyes widened and she stated “Oh, oh OH!”

Odin quirked an eyebrow while he started dumping the bloodied cotton swabs. “Wh-What?”

“I totally stole your heart.” She pumped a fist. “Best. Thief. Ever!”

Odin would have groaned at her if she wasn’t so cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> right after this I wrote the most popular fic I think I've done for this fandom, the Flowershop AU, go check it out if you wanna see the best of 2015 lmao


	21. the one where the Arrows are kind of asses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been posting many of the Prompts ones, but this one was "♥:Reacting to the other one crying about something"

Maybe it was meant as a tease, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, Ava felt horrible.

“ _You know you’re a burden, right_?” Crow had told her that, a condescending look on her pretty, young features. “ _Odin has to keep taking care of you_.”

 

It wasn’t her fault Ava had no experience with gardening or harvesting. She grew up on a TITAN planet, and had no idea how to do anything, save for what knowledge she scraped from the books TITAN didn’t contraband.

She had responded, tightly lipped “ _Is that so?”_  and after finishing her assigned chores, she wandered out to the wood that rimmed Odin’s home.

Ava hadn’t had a choice except to come here, if she didn’t want to be captured by TITAN. This was her only way out. She would leave if she could, but she didn’t know when she could sneak off to hijack a ship, or even if she could perform such a task on her own.

 _On my own…_  she thought to herself, sitting down in a thickly hidden area with squatting trees and branches to hide her. Except for Odin, she was alone. Wrathia was of little help to her, Maggie and Gil were long gone… there was no one left to help her. The other Arrow siblings helped her only out of necessity, and although she had a small camaraderie with the twins, they mostly teased her.

Ava sat with her chin cradled in her hands as she watched a few butterflies lazily wander past her. This couldn’t have been the only place with people on this planet, right? There was  _always_  more on a planet so hospitable, with such a good atmosphere and soil. Maybe she could run off. Find somewhere else that she could work from, less danger to Odin and less of a chance that she’d be a burden.

Ava was good at hiding her emotions. In fact, she specialized in burying her thoughts and feelings so tightly in her psyche that not even the demon in her mind could find what she was thinking.

However, sometimes, it felt good just to let herself cry.

Ava didn’t sob. She found out when she was little people didn’t like it when she made noise, so unless she could help it, her tears were silent as the grave. Her eyes ached and she leaned her forehead on the backs of her knees, letting them fall onto her cloth dress. Her shoulders trembled, her hands clenched the hems of her dress, but she couldn’t wrench a single cry from her mouth.

Her tears were golden, she noticed as she tried to stop them by wiping her eyes. They glittered along her fingers, and caught the sunlight like amber sap.

“You’re being silly, Ava,” she told herself, voice shaking. That didn’t stop the tears, though.

It had been too long; her journey had been too rough.

She leaned against her knees and cried.

OOOOO

Odin leaned in through the doorway. “R-Raven, have you seen Ava around?” The girl looked nervous, suddenly, and shook her head. “Crow?”

“Nope.”

Odin narrowed his eyes. They were lying. “W-Wanna tell me the truth?” he asked darkly, glaring at the two.

“Look,” Raven explained, waving a hand through the air idly “Crow said a thing and Ava left afterwards, nothing big. We haven’t seen her around.”

“S- _Said a thing_?” He looked at Crow and set his jaw. “A-And what did you tell her?”

Crow was very intelligent for her age, but her glare was juvenile in comparison to Odin’s full scale glower. She rolled her shoulders and responded in a clipped tone “I told her she’s a burden.”

“ _What?_ ”

“It’s the truth,” she responded nonchalantly, but she cried out a protest when Odin yanked her by her arm. “What’s the big deal? She hasn’t done anything useful in her time here, just all the easy jobs–  _ow_ , Odin you’re pulling!” As she started to complain she was suddenly greeted by a pair of seething indigo eyes, and his teeth were gnashing slightly as he questioned her.

“ _Where. Did. She. Go.”_  The sentence was clipped and furious, and Crow actually faltered at his look.

“She ran off to the woods,  _alright_? Now lemme go.” Odin released his sister and exited without another word to them both.

Odin loved his sisters dearly, but they could be a real pair of brats. Ava was his  _friend_  – they didn’t have the right to just start picking on her like that, especially when she was trying her best to pull her own weight.

Luckily for him, the woods were his territory, so he knew the landscape pretty well. Wandering around, he was silent and stealthy, like the scavengers of his namesake, and he searched the area. Could she have gone back to her room?

As he was about to give up chase, he heard the slightest breath, like someone hiccupping. He listened again, and followed the noise quietly.

He turned around a tree and found Ava leaned against the far side, her entire form blanketed by her crimson hair. She had her face buried in her knees and she trembled slightly, her fingers grasping the ruffles of her dress.

“Ava?”

She turned to look at him, and his stomach dropped.

Her eyes were puffy, and golden tears streaked down her face. Scarlet eyes widened and her hastily turned away and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “H-Hi Odin,” she stuttered out, trying to swallow the quiver in her tone and the shaking of her hands “what… what’re you doing here?”

“I w-was looking for you,” he responded softly, and she shook her head a little.

“You shouldn’t have.” She was peeking out through the thick strands of her crimson hair. “I’m just bothering you.”

“C-Crow tell you that?” She didn’t respond, only ducked her head deeper into her legs. “Sh-She was lying, you know.”

“I don’t do anything useful around here. I don’t know gunplay, I don’t know how to throw knives or cook, I don’t even know how to tend to a common garden correctly!”

 _“I_  d-don’t know how to tend a garden correctly,” he consoled, but she shook her head and sighed dejectedly before pressing her hands against her face.

“It’s not the same,” she responded, and Odin felt his stomach churn as her voice trembled and she inhaled deeply, trying to stop the tears from coming back down her face. “I’m just… I can’t do anything! I can’t… I’m not…”

Odin gently pulled one of her hands away and set it on her cheek, wiping away the tears. Her lips wobbled as she tried to stop crying as he studied her face, but she couldn’t. Ava pressed her face against his palm and closed her eyes. “Y-You can’t be a b-burden if people want you here.”

“Who would want me here?” she asked quietly, her tone was so tired and melancholy that Odin couldn’t help but stroke her face and pull the hair from out of her eyes.

“ _I_  w-want you here.” He felt her face start to rise in temperature from under his hand. “I’m n-not a subtle person, Ava, y-you’d know if I d-didn’t want you here.”

Ava looked between his eyes, seemingly weighing the honesty of his words. After a moment of feeling those scarlet eyes search his face, she finally sighed and her sight dropped. “…if you want me here, I’ll stay.”

He blinked. “W-We’re you planning on leaving?”

She averted her eyes and looked down to the grassy ground. Odin stood up and tugged on her shoulder a little, and she stood up shakily to follow him. As they walked alongside the other, Odin kept looking down to Ava, worried.

“A-Are you gonna be alright?”

Ava sighed and shrugged, rubbing her hands up her arms as they trekked through the woods. “Crow saying that just reminded me how inexperienced I am… How much I’ve lost… stuff like that. I’ll be fine.”

Odin placed a hand on her shoulder as they walked together. “Well wh-whatever they say, you’re not a b-burden. Not t-to me.” Ava’s smile was tired and faint, but it was a smile anyway, and he took it for what it was worth.

He walked her to her room, and she gave him an attempted hug. “Thank you for being my friend,” she had whispered into his shirt before entering the quiet darkness of her room. Odin barely got out a ‘you’re welcome’ before she shut the door.

As he walked away, feeling a little conflicted about Ava, Crow appeared in the doorway like her namesake, a flitter of shadows the only warning of her arrival.  “You brought her  _back_?”

Odin stopped her with a steely glare. “A-And how would  _you_  hold up without R-Raven or Olai or even me, n-no planet and no home? H-How would  _you_  be faring?” Crow opened her mouth once before shutting it firmly and glaring at the floor. “Th-That’s what I thought.”

He went back to his room, too angry, too conflicted. For some reason he felt protective of Ava, even affectionate.

Seeing her crying in the woods made him furious, it made him want to scoop the girl into his arms and hold her until she wouldn’t cry again.

As he lay in bed that night, the visage of her crying face kept flashing behind his eyelids.

However, as Ava lay in bed, she thought only of the gentle hand on her cheek and sympathetic indigo eyes.


	22. drabble + hairbrushing + pedri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when we thought Pedri wasn't gonna talk like THAT or be as big a dick

Somehow, Odin had managed to not only retrieve Ava, but Maggie and Gil as well.

Although his family wasn’t exactly ecstatic that he brought a TITAN born to the homeworld, he was a doctor, and a needed asset.

So, they were all given rooms.

They had been around for at least a week, and had all slept a good night’s sleep.

When Odin woke up, he was refreshed. Hastily slipping into more appropriate clothes that were not torn up, he meandered into the main mess hall where food rations were distributed.

“I don’t know,” he heard Gil mutter as he, half in a sleepy daze, passed by and grabbed his food tray. “Your hair’s just too  _thick_ , Ava.”

 

For some reason, the statement hit him with supreme urgency and he spun around to see Gil sitting behind Ava, trying and failing to brush her hair. Ava was squirming a little in her seat as Gil unwound a thick braid that was embarrassingly uneven. Ava looked more than uncomfortable – she looked downright  _anxious_. She fidgeted in her seat and bit her lip as Gil unwound her hair again and clumsily ran the brush through her thick locks.

Odin felt his blood go hot at the sight of it.

Then his mouth was no longer his own, as a cool sensation made his muscles go numb and he heard himself say “ _Doctor, that is_ not _how you brush a lady’s hair. Give the comb to me_.” Just as Gil turned to look at him, Odin bit back a curse as Pedri retreated from the temporary possession.

“Uh,  _can_  you brush her hair?” Gil asked in earnest, and Odin had no choice but to nod, glaring through his peripherals at the three eyed demon that stalked him.

Ava looked up to him with her wide scarlet eyes, blinking a little when he exchanged seats with Gil. “Ah, I hope you do a better job than Gil,” she muttered, her fingers probing her scalp “he’s only used to short hair…”

Odin swallowed his nervousness and began to run his calloused fingers through her hair. It was softer than it looked, like silk, and it shone just as brightly. It was warm, too, like running fire through his fingers as parted her luxurious locks and gently brushed them through, careful to undo the knotted strands that the brush caught on.

Ava was far more relaxed, and actually seemed to hum a little along with his movements.

He had already brushed her hair through, but he lingered a little longer as her ran the brush down the length of her back a few more times. It wasn’t as bad as it looked. He wanted to keep brushing her hair, but didn’t want to come off as creepy.

“D-Do you want me to b-braid it or anything?”

“Oh! Yes, please, if you could.” Ava sounded delighted with the concept, and for some odd cosmic reason, Odin felt compelled to do just that.

He split her hair into three even locks and began winding them around the other, a great rope of fire and crimson silk in his hands. As he reached the end, he bound the hair up by tying a heavy set knot of locks in the middle, easily undone, before dropping her hair against her back.

“Th-There. All b-brushed through.”

Ava moved out of her seat and spun a little, feeling the lack of little hairs tickling her neck or the bangs that always hid her face. She cupped Odin’s hands in her own and her voice seemed warbled as his heart leapt in his throat. “Thank you, Odin!”

“Y-Yo-You’re-” he started stuttering, but once again his words were overtaken by the wraith that was attached to his psyche. “ _You’re very welcome. Feel free to ask me if you need any help, again_.” Ava nodded as Odin felt his blood go to ice, and as she left to go get her own food rations, Odin shot a wicked glare at the ghost.

“ _You liked brushing her hair_.”

Odin shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered out the door for a smoke. “D-Don’t put wo-words in my mouth.”

The demon followed, as always, and stated in a smug tone “ _You do not deny it, though.”_

“Wh-What’s your deal?” He hissed, eyes flashing indigo as he stood his wraith down. “Wh-Why are you so in-invested in this anyway?”

“ _If I could be there for her I would be!”_  The ghost seemed to burn into darker shades, smoke gathering by his feet as he seethed. Odin took a step back – he hadn’t seen the creature so angered in years. “ _But I cannot. Until further notice_ you _must be there for the girl._ ”

Odin stared the ghost down as he shoved his pipe between his teeth. “I w-won’t be your advocate.”

“ _You won’t have to be_.” Odin blinked. “ _You like her too.”_

Odin lit his pipe and leaned against the wall, muttering under his breath “Sh-She was just a part of the mission, th-that’s all.”

“ _If that was the case, you wouldn’t have offered to braid her hair_.” As Odin’s eyes flew open to glare at the demon, he was gone with a wisp of smoke to signify his departure.

Odin had no idea what to say about that.


	23. fluffier drabble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Agelast - A person who never laughs.

As strange as it sounded, Odin never heard Ava laugh.

  
There were moments when she smiled and stifled the noise between her fingers, her lips curled into a tiny grin, but he never heard the actual laugh.

 

Odin’s laugh wasn’t exactly wonderful in itself, when he thought about it – the closest he got to laughing was a quiet chuff, a throaty noise.

However, the concept fascinated him. Ava was a girl, so they were prone to giggling, but he had no idea what she would sound like laughing.

It wouldn’t be like Ravens, boisterous and loud, or Crow’s high pitched and saturated in snarkiness. In fact, Odin found himself pondering in his free time under what circumstances would Ava laugh, genuinely.

From his experience, Ava didn’t laugh at dirty jokes. Most of the time, her face would flush a white-yellow and she would swallow hard, mumbling out a “that’s funny” before not making eye contact with anyone in the room.

She liked puns, but she only cracked a small grin in response to them.

Ava did not find insults funny.

Once, Crow and Raven tag-teamed again to pick on Odin, calling him various names. He prickled at the insults, but mostly ignored them. Ava’s face erupted gold and hot orange, and her eyes were enveloped by scarlet as she snapped “That’s  _not_  funny.”

Raven snorted. “What do you mean, I’m  _hilarious_.”

Ava had stood up and stalked out, snarling “Oh yeah,  _ha ha,_  let’s just  _tear people apart_  verbally. That just  _tickles_  me.” With that barb of a comment, not only had the girls slowed their teasings, but Odin’s respect for Ava increased tenfold. Apparently Ava had a sore spot involving any sort of harassment, and Odin wouldn’t admit that he found her attitude about the whole act refreshing.

Odin did hear her laugh, though.

They had become close enough friends that he didn’t mind letting her play around with his things sometimes – his ring, sometimes flipping through his journal – but one day she seemed to be inspecting it. Her eyes were narrowed as she etched her eyes over the edges of the ruby, her nose wrinkling and her brows creasing. Her knees were up to her chest, and her red dress folded over her limbs loosely.

Odin snapped his journal shut and put his hand out expectantly. “G-Give it back,” he drawled easily.

“Wait,” she scooted away a little “I think I see something…”

“Y-Yeah, it’s called  _my ring_ , n-now hand it back over.”

“I just want to-”

Odin lunged forward and began trying to grab the ring back, while Ava put her back to him and waved one hand frantically like she could waft him away. “J-Just-” she tried to push him off, so he slipped his hands under her arms and snatched his ring back.

Ava’s laughter was high and ringing, like bells or wind-chimes in a sweet summer breeze. They both froze, Odin from the noise and Ava form the contact.

“Let go,” she muttered in a fluster, trying to pull herself out of his grip.

“H-Holy crap,” Odin felt his eyebrows going up “you’re  _ticklish_.”

“Am not!” she denied, her hair going on end and her skin flaring. Just to prove his point, Odin brought his hands back and drummed his fingers up the sides of her ribs. She stifled her laughter for a point of a second before it once again broke through like the harmonic tune of a songbird. “St-Stop!” she giggled, before slapping his hands away and flinging herself the other direction. “I said stop!”

He put his hands up in defense. “I st-stopped, I stopped,” he assured, but a small grin was pulling up his scruffy features.

“Don’t you dare use that as blackmail,” she snapped, sharp teeth peeking out of her lips in frustration and flusters.

“I w-won’t, it’s just…” He leaned back a little and shrugged. “…I w-wasn’t expecting that.”

“Well, neither did I,” she pouted and puffed her cheeks out.

Looking at her, face glowing slightly with the lava that pooled under her cheekbones and circulated through her eyes like molten gold, he smiled to himself.

“Y-You have a nice laugh,” he commented quietly, and Ava blinked a few times before the fire in her face brightened.

“Thanks,” she muttered, embarrassed.

Odin wouldn’t tell her, but he made it a personal goal to make her laugh as much as possible.


	24. another fluffy prompt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.

Always a glance.

Odin always spotted scarlet eyes watching his movements carefully, but before he could turn and watch back in kind, she was looking away.

Ava always felt indigo eyes watching her – she felt the presence between her shoulder-blades, eyes tracking her tiny steps – but when she tried to catch him unawares, he was always looking at his feet, or picking a his pipe.

Everyone else saw it too.

 

Raven and Crow had never seen Odin want something so much before – not the respect of his family or peers – nothing seemed to equal his desire for the beautiful vengess girl, and her long hair. They had at first tried to talk him out of it.

“She’s creepy, Odin. Did you  _see_  what she did at TITAN HQ?” Raven asked, kicking her feet idly.

“I d-did,” he replied softly, and his eyes travelled from his sister to Ava’s bright red hair, shining scarlet as she helped Gil move raw metals. Raven stopped kicking her feet at the gentleness in Odin’s eyes, the way they watched her with an adoration she hadn’t seen in years.

Crow snorted. “She’s trouble, Odin.”

His eyes turned dark as he replied “Y-You’ve said that about  _me_ , too.” And with that he walked away, eyes still tracking the young girl.

After that, they didn’t say anything more on the matter.

Gil had noticed, when Ava watched Odin working with his elder brother, jacket tied around his waist as they repaired a ship outside. Her hands had slowed as she watched him, and that usual fire in her eyes seemed to soften. No longer was it was it a flame that burned, but it warmed and comforted instead.

Gil knew love when he saw it, and he glanced at Nevy. She almost seemed jealous of the girl, and Gil spoke up nervously. “You’re watching Odin again.” She made a humming noise in reply, and sighed before working on sewing up the holes in clothes again. “Do you… like him?”

Ava’s face erupted in gold and hot orange, and she sunk her chin into her collarbone. “…am I really that transparent?”

Gil laughed a little. “Only to someone who knows what they’re seeing.” He paused. “Why don’t you tell him?”

Her expression dropped, and for a moment her mask slipped, and Gil could see fear and fatigue. He blinked at the sight of it, but she pulled herself together and shook her head unhappily. “No, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

Her words slipped so easily from her mouth, Gil almost couldn’t believe that she thought they were true. “People like him don’t need monsters like me ruining things.”

Gil looked to Nevy, and no longer did she look jealous, but concerned. “You can’t possibly think that,” he rushed to say, trying to amend the self-loathing that seeped from her features.

“You saw me at TITAN HQ.”

Gil involuntarily trembled at the memory. He had never seen something so chaotic, reveling in the carnage of fire and blood. It was horrible.

“So did Odin.”

Ava only shook her head.

Maggie noticed too.

She wouldn’t admit that she was almost envious of the sort of relationship they had. Ava and Odin would always sit next to the other when they ate, and no words needed to pass. There was a sense of mutual trust and understanding. When they brushed, Ava’s finger lit up gold, Odin’s ears flustered violet.

Maggie told the twins she thought it was pathetic. Neither one was making a move – and it was starting to annoy her.

Even Tuls noticed the sour attitude she had. “I mean, they’re not even trying to get together!” she snarled angrily, fingers winding in thick emerald hair.

Tuls paused, his leafen hair shifting. “Mutual understanding… If they’re comfortable… then there’s no need to try and get together… in a way… maybe they already are.”

“Maybe you’re up to weird relationships like that, but I’m not.” She crossed her arms, upset. “If they really liked each other like they pretend they do, they’d do something about it, like  _you_  should have.” The barb hit its mark, and Tuls did not speak another word to her.

However, he did listen.

“They don’t even look good together, like me and Gil will. He’s way too tall, and she’s like, super tiny. They look like caricatures around each other.” Tuls felt his lips quirk into a thin smile, reminded of himself and Renunculae. Perhaps the two his host spoke of would have more luck than himself when it came to the affairs of love. “Holy crap, are you  _smiling_?”

As Maggie’s frustration increased, so did the furtive glances Odin and Ava passed.

Ava was watching him from the window once, and Nevy felt a pang of pity for the girl. Perhaps she felt as invisible as the ghost herself did, and although the girl could not see it, the Covetess blew ethereal bubbles around her.

Odin was watching her from where he sat beside the ship him and Olai were repairing, and Gil noticed how intently he watched the girl. Gil slowed to a stop, and Odin didn’t even notice the aquatic fellow, as his attention was absorbed around Ava.

“You should talk to her,” Gil recommended, and his voice caused Odin to jump.

Odin only replied with a few curt words of denial and a huff, but his eyes kept tracking Ava.

Eventually, eye contact was achieved. Odin was working outside, on the ship, Ava inside and sewing. He glanced up and watched her working methodically though the window, carefully sewing side to side together, when she glanced up and their eyes locked.

They hadn’t expected it, and Ava nearly dropped her sewing needle, while Odin’s hand on the ship’s main coil system went slack.

Ava’s face lit up to ungodly proportions, flashing and sparking enough to rival the sun. Odin’s face flushed a violet so deep he might’ve been turning into lavender.

He eventually brought up a single hand and waved limply at her, to which she replied with a faint wave of her own.

Once it was broken, Ava slid out of her seat and patted her face desperately to dispel the magma that gathered there. Gil walked in then, and finding Ava on the ground he set aside the basket of laundry, concerned she was hurt.

“I can’t do this, Gil,” she muttered as the blush wouldn’t go.

“Do what?”

She flung a hand out towards the window. “This – this thing me and Odin have, I can’t… I don’t know what to do.” Ava leaned her forehead on the backs of her knees and her hair spread around her like a cape.

Gil felt sympathy for her, and leaned down, patting her knee. Nevy’s hands were gathered at her face, feeling just as heartbroken for the girl.

“Well, why don’t you just tell him?”

“Are you kidding me? He’d just reject me like everyone else.” Her hands shook as she gestured to the air in front of her. “Anyone else I could deal with it, but not with Odin. Not with him.” Her knees were weak just from the thought of it.

Odin stood outside the door, still holding the metal canister he was going to fill in the sink.

He flung the door open and turned to Ava, whose face went from miserable to miserably horrified at realizing he must’ve heard everything. Odin set the canister on the table and, still looking at Ava, told Gil “G-Give us a moment.”

Gil practically scrambled out of the room, and although Nevy was curious, she did not stay.

The door closed, and it was just Odin and Ava, eyes pinned on the other.

After a tense moment, Odin leaned down on his knees so he was closer to Ava’s eyelevel. She brought her knees in closer to her chest, hands shaking and eyes wide.

Odin swallowed his nerves and reached a hand out to touch her shoulder, or cradle her face or something, but it wouldn’t stop shaking. He leaned forward and dipped his head, frustration like a great knot in his chest. He wanted Ava to be with him, but he didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to accidentally drive her away like he had done so easily with his family. He couldn’t bear to think of it. His outstretched hand hit the wall behind Ava, while he trembled, trying to think of something.

Ava watched him wrestle with his inner turmoil in front of her, but she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t comfort people, she broke and shattered but still functioned. She didn’t love, it was only something she sought after and dreamed of late at night when her scars and open cuts ached.

But she wanted to do  _something_.

Ava reached out with shaking hands, and gently held his head, fingers brushing over thick black locks. His hand on the wall pulled back and wrapped around her shoulders, and both his arms came around her and held her tightly against him. She shuddered in his grip, the scent of smoke and wild nature surrounding her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. Odin’s head ducked to smell the ash and flowers of her hair, the scarlet strands flashing.

They held each other tightly, like they might slip out of arms reach and across the horizon.

“I d-don’t know what to do,” Odin admitted quietly into her hair, his voice quaking.

“Neither do I,” Ava responded in kind, fingers knotted in his hair.

In the comfort of the other’s grip, Odin slowly lifted his head and forced his breathing to settle. Ava watched him patiently, with bright amber eyes and pupils the color of a bursting star, the constellation of a smile on her lips as he brought a hand up to her head.

“M-May I?” he asked quietly – almost hoping that she would decline, and hoping she would say yes all the same – and her hands came to his face.

“Please,” she replied quietly.

First kisses were never something to be called eloquent, but the relief and trust, the mutual affection that danced along their fingertips as lips brushed was nothing short of beautiful. Odin felt his heart like a mighty hammer in his chest, while Ava’s was a hummingbird beating frantically in the cage of her ribs.

When they separated, it was with a sort of awe and reverence, each looking at the other’s eyes. Indigo against scarlet, Odin’s hands on her face as Ava’s own cradled his.

Odin’s mouth cracked into a nervous grin – Ava’s a petite beam.

Always a glance.

However, it was to everyone’s surprise when glanced would sometimes turn to one of them – it didn’t matter – backing up and planting a kiss on the other’s cheek or hand.

Always a glance.

Except now, they knew someone was looking back.


	25. the hotsprings episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its what the title makes it sound like, kfgjhkgfnj

“…and since the hot water in the main bathrooms don’t always work, there’s a hotsprings up near one of the trails.” Raven explained to Ava as they walked the halls of Odin’s home. Ava instantly perked up.

“A hot springs?” she had never been to a hot springs, or even through a mountain pass. The amount of sights she was seeing and experiencing was enough to make her head reel.

Raven nodded. “Hey, you can go up there and take a bath, and while you’re there me an’ Crow can bring you new clothes?”

 

Ava shook her head a little. “No, I don’t… think that would be a good idea. I mean, if I’m up there naked…”

Crow quirked an eyebrow. “I hate to break this to you, but it’ll take a while to find any shirts that’ll fit over your horns.” Ava put a hand up and felt along the smooth surface to the sharp tip. “And you smell,” Raven quipped.

Ava wrinkled her nose. She knew.

Crow stepped into an off room before handing Ava a basket of clothes and various soaps. “Here, take this with you.”

Ava took it, but still looked around nervously. “I don’t know…”

Raven blinked, looking at her hands. “What’s that staining on you?” Ava suddenly prickled, her mass of glimmering scarlet hair going up like hackles.

“Nothing! I’ll go wash it off!” Ava turned tail and stepped out the nearby door to the springs they pointed to, and she could see the worn path through the foliage.

Raven blinked. “But isn’t-”

Ava was too busy walking out the door to notice Crow had planted her hand over her sister’s mouth to keep her from talking. After Ava had exited, the door smacking the frame loudly, Crow removed her hand.

“Hey, what was that for? I was just gonna tell her she should wait until Odin’s done!”

Crow gave her twin a mischievous smirk.

“Oh.  _OOOOH_.”

-_-_-_-

Ava found the hot spring.

It was like a small river, with a massive boulder in the middle where plants grew atop. The parallel side of the spring was surrounded with rough brambles, and she saw a few leaves suddenly nap and fall off the tree, like someone was there.

Ava squinted, looking.

After a moment, she decided it must’ve been a bird.

-_-_-_-

“Didja get his clothes?”

“Would I be here if I didn’t?”

-_-_-_-

Ava found the hot spring to be far more relaxing than any shower. The temperature was warm enough for her to feel it, and she sank into the hot water with her hair wandering the water around her. She sighed happily and looked down at her pact and key. The key didn’t float in the water, but hung heavily around her neck. Her wooden pact didn’t seem to be warping in the water, so Ava pulled the wooden bucket into the water and fished around for a bar of soap.

She looked down at her hands and glared.

Just a few days ago she had fought the elites. She could vaguely remember what she saw, but she remembered more what she felt. The hiss of cool blood on her hands, the adrenaline in her system buzzing as she felt so powerful.

She shook her head and began scrubbing.

Maybe hot water could get the blue blood off her hands.

Even if she couldn’t see it there anymore.

-_-_-_-

Odin heard someone on the other side of the massive boulder that split the hot springs. However, it was probably just one of his sisters here to tease him.

He was silently soaking in the warm water, letting it soothe any aches from the recent ship crash he had participated in ebb away.

He did have to wash though. But when he checked last, the spring’s bucket he had brought didn’t have any bar soap in it, meaning that someone didn’t replace it. Sighing, he stood and waded around the other side of the boulder, asking “C-Can I borrow your soap-?”

Ava spun around, the great curtain of scarlet hair flipping wildly with the movement.

Her eyes went wide and her hands automatically went to her chest. Her hair clung to her body, and he could still see the magma of her back shining through. Ava looked  _mortified_. Odin’s own expression must have been similar, considering he could physically feel the blush that lurched over his cheeks.

Neither of them said anything, even if Odin’s jaw kept moving as though he was going to. He couldn’t make a noise.

A breath later steam had blasted Odin in the face as he sputtered awkwardly and tread through water trying to get to the other side of the boulder. The water was now scathing, and although the steam was thick he could spot Ava’s glowing skin through it.

He practically plunged himself into the water on the opposite side of the boulder and groaned. “I th-thought you w-were someone else,” he tried to amend, but all he got in response was a strangled cry. “A-Ava?”

Ava had her hands over her mouth and was staring blankly into the void of steam. Odin saw her naked. She saw Odin naked.

This was horrible.

She sunk deeper into the water, every inch of her skin burning hot and bright gold as she ran clawed hands down her face. Her fiery skin caused the water around her to almost boil.

“I d-didn’t see anything,” Odin called from the other side of the boulder. “P- _Promise_. Your… your h-hair covered everything.” He seemed to be pleading from the other side of the stone, and Ava bit her lip anxiously.

“ _Promise_?” She called back.

“Y-Yeah. Th-The spring also got r-really steamy for s-some reason, so… yeah.” He paused, and she could barely see the top of his head from the other side. “D-Did  _you_  see anything?”

Ava thought back to the split second he had stepped around the boulder. She saw his bare chest, and the scars that were littered over his skin. She saw the blush on his face that spread like violet dust down his neck and shoulders, down the length of his torso to his navel.

“YOU’RE T-TAKING A  _REALLY_  L-LONG TIME TO RESPOND,” he practically screeched over the rock.

“I – no? I don’t know, I didn’t really see anything except for your chest!”

“D-Didn’t  _really_?!”

She slapped her hands into the water out of frustration and embarrassment, causing a splash. “ _No_! I didn’t see  _anything_! Alright?!”

They were both silent for a moment, trying to calm themselves. They both lied to themselves _: I didn’t see anything._

Ava bit her lip and leaned against the boulder, water tickling her chin. “So, uhm, do you have your clothes?”

“N-No, they’re on the shore on your side.”

Ava blinked and stood up a little, her hands still to her chest as she searched the shore. Her clothes were still neatly folded, hanging on a tree-branch, but otherwise, nothing.

“No, they’re not.”

“Wh-What?” She heard the splash of water as Odin began to wade around the boulder. In response Ava swam around the other side, and she barely saw his face as she hid on the other side that Odin was previously using for cover. However, that side had overhanging tree branches and brambles. As she tried to wade closer to the ever-loyal boulder, something snagged.

Her horns were caught on a tree branch. She grunted and tried to untangle them, but the water on that side was deeper – whenever she lifted her arms to undo the branches that snagged on her horns and hair, she started to sink and the foliage yanking on both bone and hair hurt.

“M-My clothes r-really aren’t here!” He exclaimed angrily, glancing around. He was about to go into a rage, fully prepared to sprint home naked, but he heard Ava bite down a cry of pain. He turned, and realized she wasn’t completely on the other side of the boulder.

“Don’t look!” she snapped just as he turned back around as to not see her bare form.

“Wh-What’s the problem?” He asked in a clipped tone – from where he was, he couldn’t see her, but she  _could_  see him.

“It’s – ugh.” He heard her sigh and splash her hands against the water again to wade. He could stand just fine over there, and he was once again reminded of how small she was. “My horns… they’re stuck in the branches.”

“Wh-What? Can’t you just… br-break the branch or something?”

“It’s flexible! And when I try to-  _ack_!” He heard her scrambling in the water. “Ouch,  _augh_!”

“D-Do you need any help?” He offered quietly, arms crossed in the water. He heard Ava scrambling in the water again, before a resigned sigh.

 “…yeah…”

Odin cleared his throat a little. “W-Well, I’ll just… g-go over there. Then.”

“Buh- _But_  don’t look!” She protested.

“H-How am I s-supposed to help you untangle your h-h-horns if I can’t look?!”

“Fine, just…! Don’t… Don’t be a pervert, okay!”

He sighed and ran his hands down his face. “G-Got it…” He finally turned around started wading back through the water. Ava was once again concealed mostly by her hair, but he could see thick strands caught on the nearby branches, and a tree branch snagged around her horns. Odin himself squatted a little in the water so they were nearly equal height, and he focused his entire attention on her horns. It seemed to be there was a leafy loop that it got twisted around in.

“I th-think you’ll have to b-back up a little,” he mumbled quietly as he tugged her hair down from the snagged branch.

Ava automatically floated backwards, but Odin wasn’t expecting it, and he felt the hot skin of her back press into his chest. He went stiff as a violet blush enflamed his face and Ava herself was startled enough that the water surrounding her rose a few degrees.

“S-Sorry,” Odin blurted just as Ava squeaked “I’m sorry!”

Odin finally started undoing the brambles, and he found that if she hadn’t started flailing from step one that it wouldn’t be so tangled.

However, Ava kept moving her hands in a strange way, and the movement caught his eye. He was far taller than her, so he could see over her head as Ava ran her claws over her hands over and over, awkwardly.

“Wh-What’re you doing with y-your hands?”

“You said you wouldn’t look!”

“K-Kind of in an a-awkward position here!”

For a moment, with Ava’s skin reverting to gold and her hair writhing in fury, it seemed she was hell-bent on not saying anything to him. But the moment passed, the water cooled, and she replied with an inkling of shame “I’m trying to wash my hands.”

“Y-You’ll need some s-soap for that,” he replied as he finally unhooked her horns. She plunged into the water, but didn’t move from her position. He expected her to bolt to shore once she was freed, but she just waded in the water. Odin blinked. “W-Well?”

“The TITAN elites.” He went stiff, looking at the back of her head. “Their blood won’t come off my hands. I keep washing, but the blue is still there.” Her voice was no longer embarrassed and angry, but tired –  _so tired_.

Odin felt a twinge of sympathy looking at her. He could see that wooden thing on her chest, and the key that hung around her neck glimmering in the sun. Her hair –  _beautiful scarlet hair_ , he thought – was pooled around her like great piles of crimson seaweed. Resignation and fatigue sat heavily on her shoulders as she stared at her clawed hands in dismay, half-lidded amber eyes dark from lack of sleep.

He couldn’t see anything on her hands. They were the color of burning lava, no hint of blue saturated into her skin. There might’ve been some still clinging earlier, but there certainly wasn’t now.

“I d-don’t see anything,” he offered lamely.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” she replied in a murmur, her thoughts far from the humiliating hot spring and somewhere far more frightening “you didn’t feel it.”

Odin stared at her for a moment, before sinking himself into the water. He reached out from behind her and cupped her hands in his – the movement brought them startlingly close, but Ava didn’t move – before Odin spoke gently over her head. “M-My hands aren’t any c-cleaner than your own, b-but maybe you n-need someone else to wash yours.”

He was leaning over her, arms around her, and Ava found the closeness not pervasive, but the sense comforting. His chest was against her back, and she felt safe. His large hands were far gentler than she imagined – they carefully rubbed over the tops of her hands, the callouses only slightly rough as he ran them over her palms, not flinching at the claws that tipped her fingers.

Ava hesitantly leaned her head against his bare back, her eyes closed. She didn’t think her hands could ever really be clean again – she still remembered cold blue blood on her hands and the synthetic taste on her tongue as she ripped them apart with claws and teeth – but maybe Odin was right. Maybe this would help.

Once Odin was done, he still didn’t let go of her hands. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he needed to hold onto them – onto  _her_  – like if he didn’t, she would sink back into that place that made her scathing eyes go dark and sharp wit go dull with pain.

Her head against his chest also felt familiar, like the prick of her horns into his front was nostalgic somehow, clawed hands on his arms not intimidating, but secure.

A demon with three eyes watched, hand over heart.

-_-_-_-

“Can you see anything?”

“They’re on the other side of the boulder, we’d have to get closer!”

-_-_-_-

Ava’s eyes snapped open and she sat forward, listening. In that moment, Odin remembered that he was not her lover – when had he thought that? They were  _friends_  – but in fact a naked man with a naked Vengess girl. He cleared his throat and turned away, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “Uh, ab-about th-that, I-”

“Thank you.” Her tone was barely above a whisper, and he heard the gratitude in her lilting voice. “Please cover your eyes.”

Although he was already turned around, he covered his eyes, feeling like he had just invaded some of her privacy.

Ava waited until he had covered his eyes, and she stared at the back of his head fondly before turning around.

Then she plowed through the water.

Crow and Raven had no idea how fast Ava could go when she was infuriated. Ava slammed the girls against the nearby trees, not caring about her naked form in the slightest.

“ ** _Where did you put Odin’s clothes?_** ” She demanded, her voice low and sharp as metal shavings.

“U-Uh, we brought your clothes,” Crow offered, holding up a plastic bag, but Ava’s eyes pinned them in place. Pure, unadulterated wrath.

Raven sputtered “The tree – the tree that looks kinda like a scarecrow, we hung them on the limbs!” Ava said no more, but snatched the plastic bag out of their hands and stormed off, her thick hair caping her body.

-_-_-_-

“Odin, I got your clothes,” Ava called out to the boulder.

“Oh. Th-Thanks. Wh-Where were they?”

She set them up by the edge of the springs. “Crow and Raven had them. I’m already dressed.”

“W-Well, I’m not,” he replied sarcastically, and Ava rolled her eyes.

“I’ll go so you can dress. I’ll… see you later.” She saw his hand shoot up from behind the massive censorship stone and wave at her.

She began walking down the hill, cradling her old clothes in her hands.

-_-_-_-

The next day, Odin and Ava were only a little flustered around the other, but were otherwise ignoring the dire situation they had been in the day before.

To Odin’s curiosity, Ava had asked where Raven and Crow’s rooms were, as she didn’t know her way around. He told her, and he thought it best not to ask her about it.

As Ava sat by the sink and was peeling potatoes, Odin on her other side doing the same job.

Crow and Raven burst in – in  _pajamas_? Odin turned to Ava with a quirked brow, but her face was the picture of serenity.

“Alright, we get it, you stole our clothes because we embarrassed you, ha ha,” Raven drawled “but where are our clothes, Ava?” The Vengess girl said nothing, only a smile quirking her lips to flash bronze canines.

“I bet they’re in her room,” Crow scoffed, and they walked off in their fluffy pajamas in a huff.

A moment later, Odin heard noises of frustration. If there was anything hidden in Ava’s room, it wouldn’t be too hard to find – she was new here, so there was only a bed and her other outfit in the room.

“Ok Ava, for real, where are our clothes?!” Crow demanded.

Odin found the entire situation amusing, but where could Ava have hidden their clothes? She didn’t know her way around the place yet.

Ava turned and simply stared at the girls. “Apologize.”

Raven snorted, crossing small arms with a sniff. “We don’t apologize to  _anyone_.”

“Then you’ll never get your clothes back.”

“Yeah, right,” Raven replied with a toss of short black hair.

Ava turned, and her eyes had been swallowed by scarlet, her sclera exploding gold as she seethed “ _I swear on your pretty little graves, you can rip this place apart piece by piece, but without **my**  assistance you may as well figure out how to sew because you will  **never**  get your precious threads back._” Her claws dug into the wood on the sink, carving deep cuts through the surface.

Raven and Crow were intimidating at best, but Ava was lethal. Odin could see them physically swallow their pride as they muttered “I’m sorry,” to the Vengess girl.

“I didn’t say apologize to me, did I?”

They glanced up, and Odin felt a smug grin stretch across his face as they turned from Ava to their older brother.

“Apologize to- to him?” They both sputtered, looking aghast. Ava didn’t grace them with a reply, simply went on peeling potatoes.

Odin would always treasure the memory of his sisters having to bitterly apologize to him. Ava sent them off afterwards, telling them she would bring their clothes up at the hot springs, wherein they both groaned.

“N-No, but really, wh-where did you hide them?”

“Somewhere safe,” she assured, putting the last peeled potato in a pot. She turned and put a hand out. Odin once again quirked an eyebrow, but considering she had already provided him with a memory which he would relish many-a-night, he put his out. She squeezed his fingers and brought his hand closer, pecking a kiss on his knuckles.

His face flustered violet as he swallowed hard.

“Thank you,” she whispered quietly, before releasing his hand and going down the hall. Odin looked at his hand –  _just yesterday cupped in warm water as he washed hers carefully, gently_  - before running it down his face and suppressing a stupid grin on his face.

Ava, meanwhile, pulled Crow’s and Raven’s clothes out of her pact, tossing them onto the floor, disregarding whether or not they were clean.

She left their room and kneaded her hands together, and to her surprise, maybe they weren’t so bloody after all.

 


	26. shitty roommates AU 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a THING my dudes... the concept of the hosts being broke roommates shoved into a tiny apartment together was too fun to play with, but I think Kat/Mooselady's interpretations are about a million times more stellar, check out their fics

“Wh-Who didn’t do the dishes?” Odin demanded from the hallway as he tried to fish out a clean mug for his coffee.

Gil, who was sifting through the pages of a medical textbook, pointed at Maggie without looking. Maggie herself was trying to tiptoe out the front door, and she froze in place as Odin shot her a steely glare.

“What?!”

“W-We have zero dishes, th-that’s what!”

 

As they argued, Ava meandered out of her room walked between the wrathful roommates, making a b-line for the cereal. When she noticed there were no clean bowls, she pulled down a mug.

“L-Look, Ava’s eating her b-breakfast with a mug!”

“Don’t put me in the middle,” she chided as she passed by and sat beside Gil.

“What, she’s resourceful, she’s made do!” Maggie had a hip popped out and a sneer thinning her lips.

Odin groaned and threw his hands in the air. “Th-That’s not the point, y-you haven’t done a-any of your chores!”

“Thanks for the recap,  _dad_.”

Ava and Gil exchanged looks, rolling their eyes as the two continued ranting. Every morning was like that, until there was an angry banging on the door. Maggie, who was closest to the exit, opened the door. It was Prudith from two rooms over.

“It’s seven in the morning,” she hissed, hands clenched. “You wanna keep it down, you heathens?!?

“What,” Maggie teased, leaning on the door “you want your beauty sleep? Because lemme tell you, you  _really_  need it-”

Prudith’s face flushed a deep blue as she stomped back down to her room.

Gil put his cup in the full sink, telling Maggie as she shut the door a little too loudly “That wasn’t very nice, Maggie.”

“She had it coming,” she replied with a shrug. She checked her wristwatch and swore under her breath. “Listen, I’ll do the dishes later, I’m late!”

“L-Late for what?”

Maggie winked at the group as she skipped out the door. “A date!” The door slammed shut, and after a few seconds of silence, Ava spoke up, despite her sleep deprived state.

“Who has a date at  _seven_  in the  _morning_?”

Gil shrugged helplessly as Odin complained under his breath, washing his favorite mug as his coffee heated up.

OOOOO

The collage misfits looked better after eating breakfast. Ava’s ashen complexion cleared to a rosy blush, and her frazzled hair was tightly braided as she gathered her supplies.

Odin was no less cranky, but he was far more energetic as he continued to hiss under his breath every time he passed the sink.

Gil was a morning person – the only difference breakfast made was his eyes seemed to clear from their sunrise fogginess.

Gil had class an hour before Ava and Odin, and the bible-thumper gave Ava a sympathetic look as their mutual roommate began to gesture obscenities to the full sink.

“I don’t think he’ll be too upset,” he tried to console Ava as he stepped out the door. They heard something crash in the kitchen, and Ava replied in a tone saturated in pure sarcasm “Nope, he’s just a basket of roses that one.”

Gil waved at Ava as he too exited the small apartment, and Ava sighed, tugging on a stray lock of hair as she entered the kitchen. Odin was grumbling as he began to clean up the remains of a plate that was once precariously balanced on the stacks of dishes, but was now shattered on the floor.

“I s-swear if M-Maggie doesn’t start doing her p-part I’m burning this whole building down,” he seethed.

Ava snickered and pulled out the dustpan and broom. “You know Odin, I really don’t think you communicate your emotions sometimes.” He gave her a flat look. “Sometimes I just don’t know what you’re feeling.”

“You c-can stop your snarky attitude any minute now,” he mumbled as he swept up the ceramic pieces.

“Yeah, but where would be the fun in that?” Odin scowled. “Listen, I’ll try to talk to Maggie later, alright Mister grumpy stubble?”

Odin was going to throw the shards away, only to find that the garbage hadn’t been taken out either. Ava was quick to do that task herself, as Odin was hastily going from ‘angry student’ to ‘walking fury,’ and the last thing any of them needed was their landlord to visit while he was fuming.

“Come on Odin,” Ava tugged on the sleeve of his shirt as he gathered his supplies into a black bag and flung it over one shoulder “class starts soon.”

Odin flung the door open only to come face with the landlord – Six.

“I got a complaint from one of the other tenants,” they drawled, taking a step forward into the doorway. Odin was too prideful to budge, but it brought Six uncomfortably close. “Something about harassment?” Their blues eyes flashed venomously.

Odin shot his own feral glare at the landlord, and they were stuck in a deadlock before Ava wormed her way between them. “It won’t happen again,” she explained hastily “Maggie said something, and Prudith might’ve heard her wrong and overreacted.”

Six transferred their glare from Odin to Ava, but after weighing her words they replied “Fine. If I hear another complaint about this room thought, there  _will_ be consequences.”

“I’m l-looking forward to it,” Odin hissed between clenched teeth. Six flipped their hair as they walked off, and Ava released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Come on Odin,” she prodded again as he continued glaring at Six’s form down the hallway “that’s a fight for another time. We’ll be late.”

After a few more moments, he finally relented and they began their trek to the campus.

OOOOO

Ava was barely aware of anyone else in the apartment as her hand cramped, eyes going blurry as she wrote down the last few paragraphs to her analytical essay. Gil sat across from her, talking about – something, probably his church group.

Odin had been waiting that night for Maggie to return, and when she did, he was only too ready to begin yelling at her.

The argument was heavy, words like sharped barbs through the small hallways.

Ava’s eyebrow twitched as she attempted to write her essay. It didn’t help that the cat that had come to be a local resident had just tried to knead her claws on Ava’s arm, so she ached and was exhausted as her roommates argued.

“S-Six came to th-the apartment because of y-you! A-Ava had to cover for you!”

“It’s not my fault Prudith looks like a walking trout!”

“B-But it is! Es-Especially when she runs to S-Six to tattle!”

Ava’s hand twitched.

“It’s not my fault Six is an asshole!”

“B-But it  _is_  your fault the dishes aren’t done!”

The tip of Ava’s pencil snapped off and her eyes went wide with madness as Gil slowly scooted back in his chair. “Ava,” he tried to cool her down a bit, but that was the last straw.

“ ** _SHUT IT!_** ” She snarled at the two, and both their mouth’s snapped shut in shock. “ _I am trying to get a very important essay done, and I can’t do that when you two are having a **HISSY FIT IN THE LIVINGROOM!**_ ” She stood up and the chair shot out behind her as she slammed her palms on the table. “ ** _TAKE IT OUTSIDE_** ,” Ava bellowed. With her two cents, she sat back down and began scribbling the rest of her essay draft down with a broken pencil.

After a moment of tense silence, Maggie whispered “holy shit” to the great emptiness that followed Ava’s rage.

Odin glanced over to Maggie and whispered “I-If you had just done your part-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Ava threw the cat at him.

OOOOO

“You really should have just dropped the argument there,” Gil chastised as he cleaned Odin’s scratches with a cotton swab and antiseptic cloths.

“I j-just wanted to make a  _point_ ,” he grumbled.

“Well, Maggie did do the dishes,” Gil noted to the empty sink as he handed Odin a box of bandaids and began throwing the swabs away.

“I’m pretty s-sure she did them just so Ava w-wouldn’t throw the cat at her either.” As though knowing they were talking about her, the bright red tabby hissed at them across the room before stalking onto a bookshelf.

There was a knock on the door, and Gil opened it with a strained smile as Six tapped their foot on the welcome mat. “Strategos,” Gil greeted and graciously stepped aside so they could enter “is something the matter?”

“I got  _five_  complaints about noise last night,” they replied in a clipped tone, drumming fingers along their crossed arms. “I want to know what was happening up here.”

Odin scoffed. “My r-roommate threw a cat at me.”

Six glanced to Wrathia, who was flicking her tail. “There are no pets aloud.”

Ava passed by with a basket of laundry. “She’s not a pet, she’s a vermin. And if you’re here just to evict us I won’t hesitate to throw her at  _you_  too,” Ava barked at their landlord before retreating to her room. Six glanced over to Odin’s form, covered in scratches and cuts, before awkwardly cleaning their throat.

“Anyway, if there was nothing strictly illegal going on up here, I can’t put any fines above your heads. But watch yourselves,” Six warned as they eerily side-stepped out the door.

“That guy gives me the creeps,” Maggie noted from her door. Odin glanced her way and she stiffened in anticipation of an earful.

“….Th-Thanks for doing the dishes.”

Maggie blinked in surprise before replying slowly “I… yeah. Sure.”

Gil clapped his hands together. “You see, was that so hard?”

As Ava crept out of her room, clutching her finished essay to her chest like a precious child, she snorted “One big dysfunctional family.”

Gil walked into the kitchen and began making himself something resembling a meal. After a moment, each person returning to their original task – Odin hadn’t even begun the outline for his painting and Maggie had yet to memorize her script – they heard Gil yell from the kitchen “Who ate my casserole?!”

Ava froze in the hallway and slowly began to back into her room.

Odin groaned as Maggie pointed at her.


	27. miscommunication is fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw ur shit at communicating and ur crush is as thick as an asphalt milkshake

Odin sometimes thought him and Ava spoke completely different languages.

Basic commands and questions were easy to understand, like “please pass the salt” or “where’s the bathroom” but other times, things seemed to be lost in translation.

When Odin had first attempted to flirt with Ava, it passed over her head.

 

“I don’t know,” Ava was walking alongside him, carrying a crate of scraps “this place is your home, Odin. With my past, I… things aren’t looking too good for me from here, is all.” She ducked her head, sighing, when she tripped and the crate toppled out of her hands. “Oh!” She leaned down and began picking up the parts.

It was then that Odin coyly noted “Y-You look good from here,” folding his arms. She sat back up and made a face at him.

“Uh? No I don’t, I just dropped everything. Come on, or Olai’ll be upset we’re late.”

Odin blinked in astonishment, before shaking it off. It must’ve just been the way he said it that the flirt passed overhead.

Except it kept happening.

Every flirt, every coy comment shot over Ava’s head like a warped arrow. Odin thought maybe it was her way of letting him down gently, but it actually seemed like she was just oblivious.

“H-Hey Ava,” Odin offered one day as she was sewing up his old shirt “I w-was thinking… we c-could go out to the market l-later, if you weren’t b-busy?”

Her face brightened. “Sure!” She tied the string. “I knew Raven’s been wanting me to get new clothes, we can go out after she’s done fixing one of her firearms.”

He deflated. “Y-Yeah… sure.”

The next time, he made it more obvious of his intentions. He was helping her comb the snarls out of her thick scarlet hair, and she was flipping through that freaky book of hers.

“A-Ava, did  _you_  want to g-go with me to the c-cargo bay tomorrow? I’ll h-have some spare time afterwards, s-so we can go do something…”

“Oh no,” she declined sheepishly “I wouldn’t want to hinder you at all. I’d better stay here and work on the orchards anyway.”

Odin had tied her hair off and bid her a polite goodnight, before collapsing in his bed with a groan.

Like the spirit of failure and unamused glory, Pedri appeared at his bedside. “ _Your attempts at courting the beautiful Vengess girl have gone not only ignored, but unnoticed_.” Odin ignored him, opting to change into more comfortable clothes. “ _At this rate, she’ll be courted by your brother before she even realizes you exist.”_

“W-Would you shut up?!” Odin snarled while he tossed his shirt at the specter. As anticipated, it fazed through him and hit the far wall.

“ _When I courted my wife, I brought her the corpse of a great hellhound that plagued our mountains_.”

“Wh-What the hell are you even s-suggesting?” Odin asked with a cold glower, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration.

“ _You do not need to speak to communicate. My gift of the flare-lupine was seen as a proposal. If words do not work, use your head_ ,” he finished by tapping a claw against the side of his black bone mask.

“I’m n-not taking dating advice from a hallucination,” Odin finished gruffly as he tossed his shoes into a corner of the room. “Es-Especially from you.”

“ _I am offering advice where none would be given.”_  The ghost paused, as though he was going to say something else – before deciding against it and vanishing into thin air.

As Odin tossed his blanket over his body in a huff, he thought of what Pedri said. Maybe giving Ava a gift would communicate his feelings well enough?

The next day, he found Ava in the orchards helping to pick apples. He cleared his throat and she turned to look at him, garbed in a massive sunhat.

“Ah, good morning, Odin!” She lowered herself from the stepladder, sliding down. “Did you need something? I was just about to go process the apples before going to dry the herbs.”

He handed her small bouquet of flowers. It was classic and couldn’t possibly be interpreted wrong.

She blinked, before a sunny smile dawned on her features. “Yeah, sure, I‘ll go hang these with the other herbs.” She took the flowers and spun on her heel, humming to herself as she walked away.

Odin’s hand was still outstretched in shock. Crow and Raven looked sympathetic from across the way.

“Wh…What j-just happened?”

Raven leaned against him. “I’d say you were just rejected, but I don’t think she even realized you were offering anything to her. Tough luck, big guy.”

He watched her walk away, a skip in her step, scarlet hair bobbing with the movement. What was something that could not, in any way, be misunderstood?

He thought of something, but it was going to probably be a really stupid decision on his behalf. “H-Hey Ava, wait up.” She stopped, hearing her name, and he caught up to her. “I w-wanted to tell you something.”

She blinked at him, looking only a bit concerned. “What is it?”

He grabbed her by her shoulders, sputtering “I th-think you’re v-very pretty,” before he leaned down and pecked a kiss on her lips. It was clumsy and not very intimate, but Ava’s face erupted gold with the gesture. “W-Will you join m-me later t-today?” He wished his stutter wasn’t so prevalent, and he found it was hard to focus on Ava’s face when he was dizzy with the heat up his cheeks.

She patted her face to dispel the magma, his hands still stiff on her shoulders. “I – I – yes, sure – I mean, of course!” She was a flustered mess. “But this – this came out of nowhere…!”

They both heard Crow say “oh hon,” sarcastically from behind them. Odin sat back up and slipped his hand around Ava’s, leading her to the main fruit storage. Her hand flared against his, and he felt accomplished at finally getting his feeling across.

“Wait, were these flowers for  _me_?”

He rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his features.

 


	28. the arranged royal marriage au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can really see the age on this baby with the "hold my flower" meme slipped in

Odin thought the entire business – because that was what it was, no odds and ends about it –was completely unfair.

The Vengess folk were strong, unbeatable, and they owned more than enough land to conquer the Arrow Royal family.

However, the Arrows could provide. They could provide goods, services, and other such niceties for the warrior Royals and their desert state. They decided paper was a good contract, and came to the conclusion that showing their support of the small, renegade country was long overdue.

So they sent three of their court members and a young Princess, with the news that the girl would make an excellent wife and a contract of flesh and blood.

 

Odin wasn’t one of the more useful of the Arrow families, if not because of his infernal speech impediment. He couldn’t sway crowds like Olai could, or convince anyone to do their bidding, like his sisters could. He could do the silent work – and keeping silent and not ruining anything would be perfect at the moment.

So Odin was engaged to the Princess. The Wedding would be in three days, and the Vengess Court would stay until then.

Odin glared at his food as they dined. The Princess – he hadn’t bothered to learn her name yet – had been sat next to him, and he found her to be more unimpressive as the minutes passed.

She looked more human than her kin, if the pink skin and human pallor was any indication – maybe she was a bastard child? – but her glowing scarlet hair and fiery pupils gave her away. She ate very little of her food, but when she took bites Odin could see the flash of bronze canines that showed her Vengess lineage. She wore something more tradition to the Arrow’s region, a pink ruffled dress with poofy sleeves that sat heavily on her tiny hips and made her look virtually flat chested. Her hair was bound in braids and ribbons, like his sisters, and her cuffs were gold to take away some of the glow from her magma flesh.

Her court members were far more dynamic than she was. The first was a boy with blue skin and silver hair. He wasn’t a Vengess, but he was traveling as a Court Member for when negotiations began in the Covetess counties. He spoke easily and optimistically to Olai about the plans for the local agriculture in the Arrow’s land.

The second was more fig than fellow, as his skin was as dark and niched as wood. His hair was like thick crimson foliage, the leaves parting to show neat horns and glowing aqua eyes, pupils only slits. He seemed to be only a bodyguard for the third member, and he spoke only to her.

The last court member was another Princess from the Vengess lands – not Vengess, but a branching royal line that had joined with them many years ago – and her hair seemed to mimic great daisy petals across from her scalp, and her eyes were as green as fresh grasses. She spoke to Odin’s sisters, and her tone was cheery and barely political.

The flower princess turned to the Vengess Princess and a look of concern flashed over her features. She leaned over slightly and asked her “Princess Ire, is something the matter?”

Ire blinked, startled like a deer, before smiling nervously and shaking her head. “No, no I’m fine… The food here is a little more – uhm – foreign than I’m used to, is all…”

Olai spoke across the table. “Well, you should get used to it, considering you’ll be married to Odin in less than three days.” He waved his fork idly through the air with the ghost of a grin on his face. “We have a lot of foods here, Princess, so you won’t have any trouble settling in.”

Princess Ire nodded slightly, kneading great handfuls of her dress between her fingers underneath the table. Her cheeks sparked like a campfire, and Odin rolled his eyes, looking the other way.

“Besides, I’m certain Odin can show you around the kitchens later.”

That was the last straw regarding Odin’s freedom or opinion on the matter. He sat up and walked out of the hall, muttering “I’m f-finished with dinner” under his breath.

As he walked down his halls, the lush purple so familiar, he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet on thick rugs. “Ah, uh, excuse me – Prince Odin?” He stifled a groan before turning around.

In the candelight, Princess Ire looked very small. Her hair seemed to contrast against the violets around her instead of blending in, and her eyes were wide, smile anxious as she continued “Prince Olai insisted that I follow you… where-ever that is? I think he meant for you to give me a tour…”

“F-Fine.” He started walking, and she nervously followed him.

He was so angry. He didn’t have a say in any of this, and he was being used as a political tool, a walking contract. Not to mention the princess was being so clingy.

They kept walking.

“Where are we going?” she pressed.

He shrugged. “J-Just walking.”

The carpet seemed to make their movements muffled and silent.

“Is there anywhere in particular you like to go?”

Odin groaned openly, stopping and turning on his heel. “L-Listen Princess,” he explained bluntly, anger towards his family making his words particularly sharp “I d-don’t plan on making this arrangement any m-more personal than it has to be. I kn-know you’re playing your part trying t-to be all buddy-buddy with me, but just… stop.” He turned around, shoving his hands into the pockets of his vest. “And l-leave me alone. It’ll m-make it easier for both of us.”

He kept walking, and when he glanced over his shoulder, there was no sign the princess had ever been behind him to begin with.

He snorted under his breath.

OOO

“Ava~!” Princess Renunculae called out, cupping her hands on either side of her mouth. Her brows knit and she looked down the hall anxiously. “Ava, where are you, Princess?”

Odin crossed the hall. He hadn’t seen Princess Ire at breakfast, or at lunch. Her court glared at him all morning, knowing it must’ve been his fault – Gil and Tuls glared while Renunculae ignored him vehemently – but he tried to blot it out. The maids mentioned seeing her in the halls, or the garden, and sometimes in the squire’s courtyard, but anyone other than the servants had yet to actually see her.

He figured this was regular pampered princess behavior, shoving a pipe between his teeth.

He really hated this arrangement.

Renunculae grabbed his sleeve as he passed by. “Prince Odin,” she pressed urgently “Have you seen Ava anywhere?”

He blinked in confusion.

She rolled her grass green eyes, face pinching into a hateful sneer. “Princess Ire.”

“N-No,” he replied, uninterested “not since last night.”

The blue court member, Gil, came stumbling down the hall ungracefully before sprinting up to Renunculae. “No one’s seen her around except for the servants,” he informed her, a wry expression thinning his lips.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” the princess bit her lip, her petaled hair curling in concern. “Something must have really upset her. She hasn’t vanished like this since training.”

Odin was mildly interested. “T-Training? V-vanishing? What is she, a t-trick rabbit?”

He didn’t think the flower princess could give dirty looks, but he flinched at the intensity of the sneer she shot at him. “Hardly.” She turned around, fanning herself with a petal fan, and a massive form followed her. Odin hadn’t even realized her bodyguard was there. “We need to find her, and quickly. What if she keeps this up until the wedding? Oh dear,” and Renunculae hurried down the hall, the other two court members in tow.

Odin watched them go, before rolling his shoulders and deciding to go hovel up in the library for a bit.

As he entered, he could see the many step ladders that led up to the high bookshelves. The room was darkened by the setting sun outside, twilight through the lavender curtains giving everything a ghostly feel.

He heard someone crying.

He pocketed his pipe and began inspecting each of the shelves, before coming to the very last bookshelf in the far corner of the library. As he turned the corner, he could see the flash of fire and quiet glowing.

Ava was sitting atop one of the many stepladders, her fingers clutching the ruffles of her dress from the night before. She had her face buried in her knees, and her shoulders bobbed as she trembled. Her feet were bare, her shoes discarded at the base of the ladder.

In surprise, he said aloud “A-Ava?”

She shot up at her name, and he could see golden ears streaking down her cheeks, her sclera bright scarlet and her pupils slightly oblong. “Go away,” she barked, curling in on herself more.

Odin felt a pang of sympathy and approached the ladder. “Th-They’re all looking for you in the h-hall,” he suggested.

“Let them look,” she replied into her dress, the words muffled. “I know everyone else is.”

He thought back to when she was introduced to the Arrows, how the servants whispered about her fire flesh and garish red hair, how the nobles muttered about demon blood in her family line. He swallowed hard and persisted. “Wh-What’s… What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” She sat up, eyes still puffy and tears still hot and wet across her cheeks. Her tone was laced with fury though, and her teeth bared like wolves canines. “What’s  _wrong_? Oh  _nothing_ , I’m just in a  _strange_  country with  _strange_  food and  _strange_  clothes with a  _strange_  fiancée who won’t even  _talk_ to me and I’m supposed to be getting  _married_ ,  _that’s what’s wrong!”_  Her skin flared, and he could smell smoke and see the edges of the dress she was wearing start to singe. “I just want to go  _home_ ,” she sobbed quietly “but this will be my home now… at least you get to stay where you’re comfortable.”

Odin felt his stomach lurch with guilt. He hadn’t even considered how Ava felt about all this, and the amount of effort she was putting into making this go smoothly. Swallowing hard and rubbing the back of his head, he decided the least he could do would be to apologize.

“I kn-know I haven’t been-”

“ _Leave me alone!”_  she snarled, and fire sparked between her lips. “It’s all you’ve  _ever_  wanted from me, so take the opportunity _! Leave me be!”_  When he didn’t move, she grabbed a book from beside her and launched it at him.

He put up his arms but it hit expertly, slamming into his stomach before landing on the carpet with a thunk. “ _Leave. Me. Be_.” It was a warning, and Odin knew a tone of death when he heard it.

He nodded slowly, hand over abdomen as he exited the library. Gil was in the hall, and he directed him to the library. Only, when he returned, Gil only shook his head, a grave expression on sea-blue features.

“Sh-She was just in there,” Odin insisted, gesturing back to the grand doors.

“And now… she’s not.” It was the first time Odin heard Tuls speak.

He roughly pulled his fingers through his stark black hair. “Wh-What’s the whole d-deal with her disappearing?”

Renunculae interlocked her fingers in front of her chest and sighed. “Ava is a… problematic Vengess. As you can see, she doesn’t look like the King or Queen. She’s a throw-back.” Odin arched an eyebrow.

“Wh-What’s the problem with that?”

“Vengess value strength over all, and Ava was a weak babe. Vengess train from a young age, from when their horns first start to crown, but Ava is an anomaly.”

Gil was unclipping his cloak and setting aside. “Her Vengess genes only appear when she’s emotionally impassioned – wrath, pain, embarrassment – so they decided to begin training her years before the other Vengess, in the hopes that maybe she would die from the strain. It’s not uncommon around their culture.”

Odin’s mouth was slightly ajar, his eyes narrowed and unbelieving. “S-Seriously?”

Renunculae smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. “Let’s keep looking for her while I explain.”

Odin followed them.

“Because she actually withstood the training they put her through, she began to be a nuisance to the Royal family,” the flower princess continued, looking around in the rafters. “She had a habit of using her training to vanish, and make herself scarce, so people wouldn’t notice her or challenge her to battle. She made a good warrior, but not a good Vengess. She wasn’t ruthless enough for the role.”

Tuls lifted Renunculae onto one shoulder so she could look around the massive bird statues that lined the halls. “The Royal family decided to get rid of her, but just killing her would be considered a waste of material.”

“S-So they sloughed her off on us,” he mumbled, feeling foolish.

“Yes, while also making a stronger contract. We all agreed to this arrangement, because maybe Ava could find a better, more humane home among the Arrows-” Tuls let her down “-but things haven’t gone as planned.”

Odin stopped walking, waving a hand. “W-Wait, you agreed to th-this so… so she could h-have a second chance?”

They all nodded.

Odin felt like a complete failure. Not only had he managed to disregard Ava’s feelings, but her whole reason for coming here in the first place.

A maid noticed them and rushed up to the odd group. “My lady, Princess Ire is at the dinner table with the others.”

They all hustled to the dining room, and Odin noticed that despite the burns she was still wearing the dress his sisters had given her. She didn’t look at him, or anyone. He sat down carefully next to her, and didn’t notice when his food was served to him.

Glancing, he realized that they had gone out on a limb and served lobster. He looked back to Ava, who glared at it.

“H-Here,” he offered “Y-You crack it open…” He showed her how to crack the shell with the thin metal pincers they gave them both. Ava stared at his hands, before trying it herself. “…and you d-dip it in the sauce, and eat it.”

She sniffed it experimentally, before taking a bite. She chewed it slowly.

“W-Well?”

She stared at the crustacean, before mumbling “I didn’t think it would taste sweet. And it’s too soft.”

Odin shrugged, cracking open another shell. “W-We’ll find something different, then.”

Ava instead picked up the body of the creature, and turning it around in her hands, she bit into it. The table went silent as she cracked through the shell with her sharp teeth and tore a mouthful of it off, and chewed with a satisfying hum. She stopped when she realized everyone was watching her, and this was  _not_  Arrow etiquette.

“It tastes better with the shell,” she said with a slightly shaking voice to the nobles who watched her eat.

Odin glanced out at all the royalty, whispering and jeering, before he picked his up and mimicked the movement. His flat human teeth could barely crack the shell, but they did, and he made a dramatic gesture of ripping it off. His mouthful was smaller, and his expression  _dared_  the court to say anything about it.

 _Do it,_  his glare said _. Insult my fiancée to my face. Insult me to my face. I dare you._

The court looked away and the royals made like they weren’t interested. Renunculae had her hands cupped over her mouth, hiding a smile. When he swallowed and turned to Ava to say that no, it really didn’t taste better with the shell, he found that she was staring at him with a flustered expression, awe making her mouth open slightly and her cheeks flash gold.

When the court resumed their usual chatter in the dining room, he felt Ava’s hand on his arm, nudging it a little. “Thank you,” she said barely above a whisper.

Odin tried to nod nonchalantly, but he felt heat rush up his face.

Just barely, he heard Renunculae clapping with a relieved smile at his efforts.

OOO

The wedding.

Ava tugged on the Arrow’s dress with a small frown. She wasn’t used to so many ruffles.

Fortunately, this was a political wedding, so there were few guests – no townsfolk allowed – and it would be a short ceremony.

Ava was stuffed and wrapped, sewn in and stifled into the dress. It made her look pretty, but they bound her hair into a tight bun at the base of her head and made her wear shoes.

Vengess clothes were never so tight. She cursed humans and their need for so many layers.

Renunculae made her a crown of flowers. She set it over her brow and sighed as the veil settled over her face.

“Let’s get this over with,” she mumbled. At least Odin was being nicer to her. The memory of him defending her in the dining room made her cheeks burn.

A maid opened the door. “They’re ready, Princess.”

“Thank you,” Ava replied, walking past her. The dress dragged behind her in a lacing train, but Ava thought it was just heavy.

She kept her face a steady, neutral expression as she passed the Arrow’s court.  _This is my wedding, not theirs,_  she repeated to herself. However, she found the sight in front of her much more appealing.

Odin had donned a gleaming silk vest, shining violet. He wore pants a shade lighter than his stark black hair, and he had taken the liberty of trying to tidy his usually uncouth hair into something more manageable. He turned to look at her as she walked up the altar, and a faint smile curved the edges of his lips.

Ava felt her cheeks spark and fought to extinguish them, her fingers biting into the bouquet in her hands. Odin put out a hand, and hers slipped into it easily, like it fit.

“For n-not have coming from a-around here,” Odin whispered to her as he helped her up the steps to the altar “y-you look beautiful.”

Ava couldn’t stop the magma that made her skin glow from under the veil. “Thanks,” she squeaked, bobbing her shoulders and ducking her head.

They stood across from the other. Ava had to look up to see Odin’s face, but she felt calm. Maybe she could do this without panicking.

“ _STOP THE WEDDING!”_

Ava and Odin spun around to see Knights in white crowd the room, blocking the exits. Tuls snarled and lifted Renunculae onto one arm, the other hand snapping into thorned vines. The other Arrows looked shocked that someone had just crashed their wedding. Olai almost looked amused.

A single knight with a roman helmet stepped in, pearly armor shining in the sun with blue adornments handing off the edges. They pulled up the visor to show perfect blue eyes.

“I have come here for Princess Ava Ire!” They announced, looking like a dignified hero.

“Strategos Six!” Ava seethed, her hair going on end like hackles.

“Wh-Who?” Odin asked, looking between the two.

“Me,” the knight continued, walking through the doorway. They stepped up to the altar, and Odin almost instinctually put himself between the wedding crasher and his bride. “I am here for the contract.” They gestured to Ava.

“E-Excuse me?” Odin asked angrily, eyebrows furrowing.

“Princess Ava is a walking contract. Whomever marries her is bound to the Vengess Empire. TITAN wants the Vengess Deserts.” Six put out a hand. “Give her to me.”

Odin put an arm around her waist protectively. Ava felt her skin prickle at the contact. “No.”

“Then I challenge for her hand.” Six put their hand onto the hilt to their broadsword.

Ava stepped forward. “You decree and official challenge for my hand?” Her voice was stern.

“Of course,” Six replied smoothly.

“Good.” Ava pulled the flower crown off her head and handed it to Odin, along with the bouquet. “Hold these for me,” Ava told him, pulling out the ribbon in her hair and letting the scarlet locks loose from their grip. Odin thought she looked better with her hair down.

Six looked astonished. “Excuse me?”

“You want a Vengess’ hand, you get it the Vengess way.” She ripped off the long train of her dress, ripping off the layers until the dress was torn up to her thighs. She tore of the tight straps of the bodice and the sleeve, slipping out of the tight white shoes. She turned and her skin flared like fire and molten metals, stepping sideways with her hands up. “We fight.”

“I won’t fight a mere princess.”

Ava’s eyes brightened to a burning glow, bright under her flesh. “You’re fighting a Vengess.”

Six seemed to laugh a little, muffled by white metal. “Alright, have it your way.” They drew their sword, and Ava’s eyes narrowed.

They swung towards her, and she redirected the blow with a twist of her bare wrist against the flat of the blade. She pushed the swinging sword to the side and it jutted into the marble floor. Six lunged forward against the hilt of their sword, blinking in surprise as she withdrew her hands.

Six glared, sky blue eyes like stars. “Not bad.” They lunged again, arching the sword through the air. Ava braced herself and crossed her arms as the blade cut against her forearms, but not into the flesh. She pressed against the pressure and knocked Six back, and as they were recovering, Ava spread her arms, fingers curling like talons as blood red claws began to form.

Six stood and Ava pivoted off of her foot, snarling as she descended upon their form. They dodged to the right and she slammed one hand into the smooth marble, debris dancing off her hand.

Renunculae watched with a certain amount of delight. Gil looked concerned.

Odin thought she was magnificent.

She dodged and snarled and  _fought_.

Six finally arched the blade through the air and it stabbed through her arm. With a twist, the tip of the blade broke off, and she slammed her elbow into Six’s collarbone. They stumbled back, and Ava’s throat lit up hot oranges, lacing with magma as her chest swelled.

A moment later, fire bellowed from the deep chasm of her throat, and Six was sent flying back as flames seared through their armor and made it melt molten with the heat. The fire licked up the walls and down the floor, but as Ava ceased her fire-breathing, they extinguished.

She picked up the sword tip she had broken off, and held it above Six’s face.

“Is this the contract you wanted?” Her voice was as lilting and furious like the fire she had just spewed.

Six was huffing, hands clutching at the metal that was melted against their flesh. “This… Isn’t the last you’ll hear from me, or TITAN, Princess.”

She picked them up by their collar. “I’m not your doll. I’m not your contract. I’m not even your princess. I’m Ava Ire, and I’m tired of being someone’s tool.” She leaned into their face, sulfur hot on her breath. “ _Get_.  _Out_.” She tossed them at the end of the hall towards the other TITAN knights, and they dragged them out.

Ava turned around. Blood streaked down her skin where the blade rammed through her forearm, her flesh danced gold and crimson with slag, and her hair shifted like the mighty scarlet hackles of a wolf. With her dress burnt and torn she looked up at the Royalty.

She blinked and curled in on herself, ducking her head and twiddling her fingers. “Uhm…”

Odin recalled what Renunculae had said. “ _She makes a good warrior, but not a good Vengess_.” He held the flower crown and bouquet in the air.

“H-Hey, are we still getting married?”

Ava blinked in surprise, and then smiled with delight. With bare feet she walked up to the altar and Odin placed the flower crown on her head, the veil in front of her face. He wrapped her wound with his kerchief and she held the flowers in her palms as the marriage began.

Odin stared at his bride, her hair unbound and dress torn to bits, blood staining his handkerchief and fire under her cheeks as she smiled.

 _That’s going to be my wife,_  he thought with a sudden burst of pride.

Renunculae was gently set down by Tuls and she cupped her hands together in joy as the priest began reading off the ceremonial lines. Gil looked beyond relieved, wiping sweat from his brow. The Arrow family looked like a mixture of confusion and amused.

“Do you, Prince Arrow, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Odin smiled, his hands tightening around hers. “I… do.” He spoke slowly as not to stutter.

“And do you, Princess Ire, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Ava’s eyelashes fluttered when she blinked. “I do.”

“I now pronounce you man and wife.” The priest loosened their collar. “You may, ah, kiss the bride.”

Odin leaned down and Ava had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach. He flipped the veil over her head and just barely he felt scathing lips brush his.

Renunculae cheered, and as she opened her hands with joy flower petals scattered from her wrists. A faint smile pulled Tuls’ features up. Gil grinned openly.

With an arm around his bride and a sheepish smile on his features, Odin couldn’t help but think that maybe this wasn’t such a horrible arrangement after all.


	29. the soulmate AU

Odin idly rubbed at the words on his wrist.

Most people had relatively normal words on scribbled under their palm – “I didn’t mean to bump into you,” and “My name is so-in-so” or even “Can you step aside so I can grab that?” – yet his seemed oddly eerie, they always had.

 

There were people who weren’t so lucky, like how his older brother’s literally had the two word sentence “You asshole” in deep black, flashing through vein and flesh. One of Odin’s most recently watched movies was a comedy about a fellow who worked at Starbucks and the words on his wrist were “I need a coffee” and he was constantly trying to find new sentences to say to other people so his soulmate wouldn’t pass him by, but the stark-haired artist thought his situation was different.

He pulled on his gloves as he headed outside, the cold winter air biting at his fingertips.

The words were “ _Why shouldn’t I jump?_ ”

As most people did, Odin thought about those words, about the context in which he would meet the person that would be his.

The sky outside was slate grey with clouds, and he could see pale wafts of air as he breathed. The people of the city streets passed him by without a glance, and Odin thought it best. Most people would try and speak to as many others as possible to try and find their true love, but Odin’s soulmate was still a mystery.

What would they look like?

Odin imagined they’d be a woman – tall, but short enough that he could still keep his height. She’d be clever and self-sufficient, and she’d be the sort of person everyone would want, but she’d only be with him.

He hit his palm against the cool metal button as traffic passed by. Cars went by in a blur as engine smoke made his nose sting.

And she’d be rich, too. She’d have a big family, like his, and they’d be hilarious together.

The bright green signal of a man walking started to blink, and Odin trudged over the crosswalk with a few other people.

Ah, who was he kidding? His soul mate was probably some crazy daredevil that was always doing stupid stunts or something, and when he met them it’d be to tell them some common sense.

As Odin neared the coffeeshop, he paused for a couple to pass by. The sight made his eyebrows knit and the knot in his stomach tighten as he thought of how spectacular it must’ve been to find someone who valued you without even knowing them.

His parents – before they passed away – told him not to worry, that it always came to pass, just be patient. However, as Odin ordered his coffee and rubbed his hands together, he decided he didn’t want to be one of those senior citizens who finds their soulmate in an opposite wheelchair while playing bingo. He was already eighteen, and most people found their soul mates in their prime.

He took the cup from the barista and sat down at one of the many tables, drinking in the warmth and pulling out his sketchbook. He was in his prime, right?

He put the cup down, and as he started sketching out the interior of a house he had to design for an application to the local TITANIA college of the arts, he paused.

…Was his soulmate waiting for him?

Was he the one stalling what may come?

Once again, he passed calloused fingers over the dark words etched into his skin. They still seemed so eerie, looking at it, but they could mean anything. Words could be interpreted a million ways, by tone of voice and action, by expression and scenario.

He slapped his wrist and shut his sketchbook.  _So much for fate. What a crappy way of finding out the future,_ he thought bitterly. He chugged the rest of his coffee, deciding that whatever atmosphere he needed, he wasn’t going to find in a local shop filled with angst and couples.

Walking out and the cold air greeting him, he swept his bare fingers through his messy black hair. He forgot to put his gloves back on, but he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble of tucking them back into his sleeves. However, he did know a good spot for solitude.

There was a building, off by the town square. It was tall, and should have probably been condemned years ago, but it had a great view of the city and what lay beyond.

It was a popular spot for photographers, so he didn’t assume that it would be complete solitude, but it would be good enough.

Crossing several streets with sketchbook in tow and the cold beginning to numb his fingertips and ears, he entered the old building and began his trek up the stairs.

He heard voices, but they didn’t sound artistic and vague as most photographers did – they sounded panicked.

“Miss, please, that’s dangerous!” Odin pushed the doors open to a gut wrenching sight.

There was a silver-haired fellow standing off to one side, hands out and pleading. Looking forward, there was a girl. Her hair was a massive scarlet mass that moved like a silk curtain over her back and shoulders, flapping to the right as the wind blew.

She was standing on the outside of the railing, her elbows linking against the fence the only thing keeping her from falling to the streets below.

From the looks of it, she had discarded a crimson jacket and red-knit scarf, as those items sat in a heap by the silver-haired guy’s feet. She turned, and her eyes flashed amber, dark splotches under her face a sign of her fatigue. Her lips were pursed together, and her eyes seemed feverish, half-lidded and refocusing on Odin.

“You, sir!” Odin turned to the man. “My name’s Gil, and please – she’s going to jump, please call the police before something terrible happens!”

Odin dropped his sketchbook and began fishing through his pockets for his cellphone, he looked back up to the girl with bright eyes, fierce like fire and dampened as snow underfoot. She locked eye contact with him and barked in a breaking, desperate tone “Why  _shouldn’t_  I jump?”

His eyes widened and his heart leapt into his throat. He stripped off his jacket in a hurry, and thrust his wrist out responding in a panic “B-Because I’ve been  _waiting_  for you.”

Her eyes went wide and her tiny form went stiff, and Odin took a tentative step forward. She didn’t move, but her shoulders were trembling and her eyes began to shimmer. Odin got close enough to pull her over the railing by her shoulders, and his soulmate – he didn’t even know her name – wrapped her arms around his torso and trembled.

“It’s not fair,” she shuddered into his chest, and his arms were tight around her.

“I’m s-sorry,” Odin apologized – it seemed the thing to do – “I’m s-sorry for n-not finding you sooner. I’m s-sorry.”

The guy – Gil – seemed relieved that she was no longer dangling between life and death, and the tee had fled the scene as to not disrupt the two.

“Ava,” she murmured through the fabric of his shirt.

“Wh-What?”

“My name. It’s Ava.” It was short and sweet, like herself, but Odin felt a barb through his gut that this was the circumstances in which they met.

“M-My name’s Odin.” He paused. “C-Come on, l-let’s get inside before we f-freeze to death.” Ava didn’t let go for a moment, though, and Odin felt a fluster over his features.

“Promise me you won’t leave.”

Odin supposed the soulmate’s word etchings on his wrist were correct, because he was already in love with her.

“I p-promise.”

OOOO

Ava didn’t like coffee. However, Odin didn’t find that to be a problem, just another charming trait about her.

She was doggedly sipping her hot cocoa that he bought at the coffeeshop, and he they spoke very little. He was willing to be patient.

“I thought…” she trailed off and circled the white rim of her cup nervously “…the words were just a joke.” He could see her wrist from where they sat – and his own spoken words were dyed into her flesh.

“Wh-Why?”

She looked to the side and didn’t answer for a moment. “They were just too ironic, is all. I don’t… I don’t have anyone, y’know? So who would ever be waiting for me…”

Odin stared at Ava, a nervous wreck. He didn’t notice it when she was linked into the scaffolding, but her hair was unkempt, her cheeks slightly drawn in and her gaze lazily focusing on the cup.

“I h-have a big family,” Odin blurted, and felt a little foolish. “Th-They’ll like you.”

Her eyes perked up a little. “A big family? So, a lot of siblings?”

“Y-Yeah, I’ve got three sisters and a brother. Th-They’re brats, but they’re n-nice enough.” Ava looked interested at the concept, mouth slightly agape. “A-And you?”

“My parents left when I was about five. I was raised by the local orphanage, and when I was old enough to live on my own, they kicked me out.” She shrugged helplessly, a tired gesture. “I guess I’m used to that, though.”

Odin suddenly stood up and tugged on her wrist. “Come on,” he urged. “Y-You’re not staying alone tonight.”

Her cheeks dusted with a blush as he slid his hand down to interlock around her fingers. “So you’ve got a home?”

“A-an apartment,” he replied with a nod, the sunset coloring the slate grey clouds a purplish hue. “It’s not s-super tidy,” he warned “but y-yeah…”

Ava didn’t seem to want to talk after that, and he didn’t mind the silence. When they stopped as traffic went past, he noticed she was shivering slightly. Without a word he pulled his jacket off and draped it across her shoulders, even if the cold bit at his bare arms eagerly. Ava made a squeaking noise at the knightly manner, and he found that he liked her blush. And her face. As far as he knew, there wasn’t anything about her that he didn’t like yet, except the circumstances in which they crossed paths.

They made it to his apartment, and after pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and swung it open. The aroma of smoke and paint greeted him, a familiar smell, and he let Ava step in first.

“This is a nice place,” she commented in awe, blinking at the paintings on the walls.

“Th-Thanks.” He led her inside and directed her towards the couch – a fluffy piece of furniture that he slept on more than his bed – and she sat down awkwardly. He went off to go fetch a blanket, and when he returned, Ava had her face cradled in her hands. “Y-You ok?”

“This is kind of surreal,” she admitted. “I mean, I didn’t even think you existed.”

“W-Well gee, thanks.”

Ava laughed little and deftly smacked his arm. She lifted her up her hands through his long sleeves and he could see the words on her wrist were scarred up a little. His expression asked the question.

“I didn’t think you existed,” she mumbled again.

Odin leaned down and gently pulled her hand up. With a careful brush of her wrist against his lips, he kissed the words so delicately put under the skin of her hand. She blushed again.

“I also didn’t think you’d be charming,” she continued.

“I didn’t think you’d be short,” he responded with a slight snicker, and he stood to go grab something else – a pillow, probably – but her hand grabbed the back of his shirt, and she hugged him from behind, arms across his chest. He gulped.

His parents never told him meeting his soulmate would be this dynamic.

He looked over one shoulder. After a moment, he told her quietly “I a-already promised not to leave.” With that, her arms around him loosened and he was able to fetch a pillow.

When he returned, Odin flicked on the TV and sat beside her. They watched nothing out of the ordinary – the news, a bad science fiction movie – before he flicked it over to the animal channel. He didn’t know how refreshing it was to have someone around, and Ava filled the space in his heart perfectly.

“Oh,” she breathed slightly, his jacket still tight around her shoulders. He glanced up to the TV to see it was a small documentary on rabbits.

“Y-You like bunnies?”

She nodded, scarlet hair bobbing with the movement. “There was a picture-book back at the orphanage I used to read about a family of rabbits. I’ve liked them ever since.” Odin reached out and put an arm around her shoulders.

“Ab-About this whole soulmate thing,” he began quietly “I was sk-skeptical too.”

“And?”

“I was p-pleasantly surprised.”

Ava kneaded her fingers together and giggled a little under her breath. Ava had never been doted on before, and Odin had never had anyone appreciate him before, so it was an experience for them both.

“Well, l-lights out!” He declared, and with expert aim, he threw a nearby book at the far lamp he had turned on. There was a loud clatter as the room was submerged in darkness.

“Hey, what the heck-?” Ava’s voice went high into a squeak as Odin unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around them both, his arms around her shoulders.

“I s-said I wasn’t going to leave,” he replied, a smirk painting his scruffy features. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel her arms shuffling against his chest.

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled, but he could already feel her muscles going slack from exhaustion. She had a long, and most definitely horrible day – or just a plain horrible life.

There was no way he was going to leave her alone, not ever.

OOO

When he woke up, he was confused for a moment about the warm body wrapped around his own. However, he saw the faint glimmer of scarlet hair and remembered.

He put a hand out and stroked Ava’s cheek softly, thinking back to his thoughts the day before.

He wanted a woman with riches, money, and power – Ava had none of these things, but she was still beyond perfect. Her eyes blinked open slowly as she tried to gain semblance of her surroundings.

“M-Mornin’ bunny,” he greeted, and she went stiff.

“It… wasn’t just a dream?”

“N-Nope.”

She sighed and her eyes closed again, but she snuggled closer to him. “Thank goodness…” she mumbled before falling back into a doze. Odin glanced at the words on his wrist, and that eerie feeling he would get from them had all but vanished.

Even if they way they met –  _her arms linked at the railing, inches away from plummeting_  – weren’t the best, Odin decided there wasn’t any other place he’d be right now but beside her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 99% of these fics were requests and now I'm wondering how in the world I had the time to churn these out, I was a depressed sophomore in a billion advanced classes burning me out, Where Can I Find That Passion Again


	30. You were mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof this one was actually not bad, pretty angsty though - Ican't remember whether or not I put this in conglomerate, so its going here too

> **[You were mine]**

Ava sat across from Odin at the table, refusing to make eye contact. Her shoulders were squared, jaw set and wrath saturated into her gestures.

Odin had betrayed her.

She hated him for that.

Maybe that wasn’t accurate. She couldn’t really bring herself to hate Odin, just like she couldn’t bring herself to hate Maggie, but she was furious.

He had been her friend.

Her  _friend_.

She had told him things about herself, feelings, confided in him when the strain became too much. She had trusted him, protected him from TiTAN when she could, she had regarded him so highly.

And he hadn’t done the same.

For as highly as she thought of him, he obviously thought differently, considering he was so willing to throw her at the wolves for his own family’s benefit.

That hurt, a lot.

In the end, she’d learned to deal. People loved turning on  _Ava Ire._

After that, she was more inclined to transform into the Pact merge that was her and Wrathia. You couldn’t be sad if you were mad. Scarlet eyes made of magma and molten gold didn’t cry. A mouth full of serrated teeth couldn’t wax poetic about heartache. People knew better than to betray a  _monster_.

The others noticed. She didn’t care.

What she did care about was how Odin had managed to betray her a  _second_ time, without even trying.

He had Pedri Nanzegani.

Wrathia’s husband.

Ava would be able to handle his initial betrayal better if he hadn’t hidden this from her. Now she had to be near him, had to interact with the one person that so easily misused her loyalties.

And he knew! She told him about pacts, about the cursed ghosts, about TiTAN and the warriors.

But he still withheld this from her.

Now that he was pacted, things were awkward.

However, Ava glossed over the nervous tension with a heavy supply of resentment in his direction. How dare he return here, after crushing her loyalty?

How dare he!

Her skin flared white hot, and the seat she was sitting in began to burn steadily, smoke clouding up around her in an amorphous, foul smelling haze. Maggie backed away from her a little, mumbling “I’ll go see what Gil’s doing” as an excuse to leave the room. Ava nodded, and Maggie relaxed at the gesture.

After she left, it was just Ava and Odin sitting at his kitchen table. Ava hadn’t stopped burning, and she felt her eyes throb as that familiar heat surged up through her corneas and boiled her sclera. Her eyes must have been brighter than blood by that point, but she was used to these subtle changes on her body when she was angered.

And she  _was_  angered.

Odin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. His body language was achingly familiar, and she fought the instinct to relax around him. Odin had been the only one she had relaxed around back before the betrayal, and it was irritatingly apparent that old habits die hard.

“Ab-About Pedri…” He muttered uncertainly, looking the other direction “He, ah, w-wants to m-meet with his w-wife.”

He sounded exactly the same. How could her humanity have disintegrated into ash and leave her a husk of a monster while he remained the same? How could she have been through so much, and he be left preserved?

How was he so human?

She envied him for that.

“What of it?” she replied in a hard tone, clipped and sharp as a blade.

“Y-You have Wrathia, r-right?”

She turned and crossed her arms, so she was looking at him through her peripherals. He was sweating at the brow - probably because the angrier she got, the scarier she got. He knew that. She supposed this would be the first time her anger had turned on him.

“And?” She quirked a brow. “You think I know a method for them to reunite?”

“I kn-know you do. H-He told me so.”

A cruel smile twisted her mouth, showing teeth almost turning sharp. “And do you believe everything he says?”

He scowled at her, but she didn’t falter. She wasn’t afraid of losing his friendship anymore - it had already been lost. He tore it from her heart without a second thought, so she wouldn’t give him a second chance.

However, his question sparked opportunity.

“Yes,” she dragged the word out “I know a way to let our demons meet.” She paused.

“W-Well?”

She looked him square in the eye, no sign of joking on her face as she declared “We have to sleep together.”

His face erupted violet, and she could see Pedri showing through as patches of his skin turned leathery. “Wh-Wh- _What_?!” It was pleasing to see that mask of awkward apathy drop from his face and leave a raw, open expression.

“You heard me.” She stood up, and ash followed her from the burnt bench. “I hope your bed is big enough.” With that last remark, she left him to ferment over her statement. She didn’t doubt that he would take it the wrong way, but she also knew it could backfire. Suppose he was actually all for getting together with her?

The thought made her linger in the hallway for a moment, a bright blush dust across her cheeks, but she cast it out. What was she thinking? Odin had betrayed her.

Now, it didn’t matter how much she loved him. It was all for naught. She hugged herself, and looked downcast at her feet.

It was so hard seeing him again.

It was so hard not to just forgive him instantly, to try and make things the way they were.

But things  _couldn’t_  be the same. She couldn’t  _let_  them be the same, in order to take care of herself. She couldn’t keep hurting herself for other people.

After another moment she sighed and began down the halls. Gil said Nevy had wanted to speak to her about something, and Ava decided now was not the time to be daydreaming.

From the doorway, Odin watched her leave.

She had hesitated and blushed in the hallway, before holding herself and leaving.

Then she… hadn’t been kidding.

Odin went back to his seat and leaned his forehead against his palms. This was bad. This was…  _really_  bad.

He adored Ava, and he hated himself for betraying her like he did. He had weighed his affection for her against the love of his family, and instead of using his head he chose the easiest option. He had used Ava as a distraction for TiTAN while evacuating his family.

The look on her face as Crow and Raven pulled him into the shuttle hadn’t stopped haunting him. Her eyes were wide, tears streaking down her cheeks as she stared at him in disbelief. Her hands were pulling on her jacket in handfuls, like when he had first met her. She hadn’t said anything, but she mouthed words as the Elites flanked behind her.

“ _Please, no…”_

And he had been pulled into the shuttle. He hadn’t seen her personally for months, but he saw the carnage she was leaving for TiTAN. He had seen the monster she had made of herself, no restraint on her chaos or her pure fury.

And after making a pact, he knew it was his fault.

He should have told her in the first place that he had Pedri, but admitting his existence was admitting defeat. Odin had ignore the specter nearly all his life, and he hadn’t wanted to start acknowledging him now.

That was probably his biggest mistake up to date. He had hoped to patch things up between him and Ava by showing the pact, but it only made things worse. She barely even looked at him anymore, and spoke even less. And what words that did cross between them were laced with fury and burned with hate.

But they had to work together to complete their pacts. They had to, or risk the alternative.

At least now he knew how to have their demons meet.

They had to sleep together. He was still reeling from the statement. Didn’t this bother her at all? She looked so stale when she told him the method. Did she mean something else?

He wandered out of the room to where Ava was talking with Gil and Maggie. At least Ava had sought Maggie after their betrayal. Although the girls’ relationship was strained, it was obvious they were working through or at any rate ignoring previous problems until current predicaments were solved.

Maggie and Gil glanced up as he entered the room. Ava hadn’t made any signal that showed she even knew he was in the room.

“Ava,” he asked aloud, but she didn’t move or turn around when she replied.

“What.”

“Wh-When you said th-that we had to…uh…”

She tossed her head a little, and her red locks tousled around. He loved it when she did that, it looked like she was a firecracker when she moved. But now, the gesture was full of nothing but loathing.

“ _Yes_ , Odin, we have to sleep together for our demons to meet.”

She said it so nonchalantly, with a hint of exasperation, he felt another blush creeping up his cheeks, and he fought to hide it. “B-But you aren’t-”

“I mean what I say.”

Maggie quirked a brow and took a furtive glance at Ava. With her back to Odin, the redhead was actually smiling coyly, eyes like slits as she stifled her laughter.

Ava was messing with him.

Maggie stopped a grin of her own. Even if her and Ava hadn’t been on the best terms, what Odin did her to was total bull and she wouldn’t mind playing a part in Ava’s revenge.

“Oh yeah,” Maggie replied, waving a hand. Odin almost snapped his neck he turned so abruptly to look at her. She didn’t falter under his intense stare. “The first time me and Ava met with our demons, we didn’t even know what was happening. Oh, but you know how it is,” she looked down at her nails to stop herself from laughing at the ridiculous face he was making. “Accidents happen.  _Instincts_  take over.”

Odin couldn’t know that Maggie and Ava just happened to be  _touching_  when they fell  _asleep_  on Gil’s vessel all that time ago. He had probably forgotten about the incident anyway. But as Maggie’s voice lilted and with her half-lidded eyes and playful smirk, the mistranslation was now solid in Odin’s mind.

His face went leathery and dark purple he blushed so intensely, smoke creeping out between his lips. Without another word he turned tail and left the room, and they heard the front door slam. He must’ve been going out for a smoke.

Maggie burst into peals of laughter while Ava only held a grim smile.

Gil looked horrified. “Come on Gil,” Maggie elbowed his shoulder a little “me and Ava  _literally_  slept together. Odin’s just taking it wrong.”

He relaxed. “O-Oh. I see. The way you said it just…”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “That was the point. Odin deserves a hard time for… what he did.”

Ava stood and stretched. “I’m gonna go take a walk. I need to cool off.”

Maggie and Gil both understood, and they simply nodded as she left. They had been with her the longest after Odin’s betrayal, and though they wouldn’t swear undying loyalty to her, they wouldn’t leave her side. That was enough to secure her faith in them.

She exited through the front door, where Odin had his pipe jammed between his teeth and was smoking religiously. He let out a little yelp when she slammed the door behind her.

She looked him up and down. Since he hadn’t taken his vial, he could still hold up an air of humanity about him. His skin was always a little violet, so Pedri’s alien genes didn’t change that much. The only difference was that sometimes his eyes leeched red, or his teeth looks like great bloodstone shards when he was upset. That wasn’t very often, so he had nothing to worry about.

She looked him over again, trying to spot where Pedri lay. He must have taken the gesture wrong, because his blush only darkened, making his eyes flash a blaring red as Pedri showed through.

“See you tonight,” she replied to his face flatly, and she took a walk in the woods.

> **OOO**

In his room, Odin sat on his bed staring at his hands.

He couldn’t do this.

Even though Ava wasn’t a kid anymore, and as much affection he had for her, this was - he couldn’t - this was ridiculous! There was no way he was willing to bed someone just for Pedri.

Well. Maybe if it was someone else,  _maybe_ , but it was Ava. She was different, he couldn’t just use her for his own gain.

He realized how ironic his thinking was, considering he had done just that at the betrayal.

Someone knocked on the door. Odin froze.

 _She wasn’t kidding,_  he thought frantically.  _She wasn’t kidding!_

Ava flung the door open, looking annoyed. “I knocked so I wouldn’t have to open the door myself.” She walked in and shut the door quietly, before turning fully around.

She was wearing a large t-shirt and loose shorts as pajamas, and was holding a pillow under one arm. Odin couldn’t move.

Ava wandered over to the opposite side of his bed, putting a hand on the covers. “Nice sheets,” she commented quietly. She pressed her palm into the mattress, and it bounced a little. “Springy.”

He nearly had a coughing fit.

No way, he couldn’t do this!

“A-Ava,” he started, and his voice was hoarse from how tight his throat was “ab-about this-”

Ava tossed her pillow on the bed and slipped under the covers, rolling over. “Well, goodnight.”

Odin stared at her.

“What.”

She turned a little. “Well? I said we have to sleep together.” She inclined her head, her fire-hair fanned out behind her. “Our minds can connect when we’re in an unconscious state, but we have to be touching.”

His mind processed this very slowly.

Then he exploded.

“You led me on!” he bellowed, staring accusingly at her. She stared back evenly with amber eyes.

“I did no such thing. I told you I meant what I said.”

He ran a furious hand through his hair. “B-But M-Maggie and you - I b-bet you were in c-cahoots!”

Ava snorted, sitting up. She looked good in his bed.

He ignored the thought.

“I had nothing to do with what Maggie said.” Then, Ava patted the pillow next to her. “Now come to bed.”

He wanted to rant and rave to about how stressed she had made him all day, about how he just about had an aneurysm with her innuendos, but decided against it. It wouldn’t do any good.

He slipped into his bed and turned the lamp off.

Ava warmed the bed steadily, and the heat was familiar, pooling against his back and relaxing him. He would have relaxed more if he didn’t feel Ava shivering behind him, trembling like she was cold.

He turned and could see her bright skin against the darkness. “H-Hey,” he asked softly “are y-you okay?”

“No.” Her voice trembled slightly, and her throat sounded gummy. “Shut up. Go to sleep.”

He pursed his lips and didn’t reply, but he didn’t turn back over. He watched the back of her head, hair like cords of flame until sleep washed over him and he spun into darkness.

> **OOO**

Ava blinked.

She sighed and stared into the deep, pressured confines of her mind.

Memories locked away, sensations she didn’t want to relive were hidden, and good thoughts were stored and caged. Nothing remained to be seen. There was nothing here that could be used against her, for better or for worse.

She took in a deep breath, and relished the smell. The scent of parchment, real paper - and not datapads - was something she cherished dearly. It was one of her only favorite things that hadn’t been tainted by TiTAN or any other enemy.

She used to love classic music.

_“Que sera, sera…”_

She cut the memory off and all the drawers around her rattled like the chant of an eager army. She took in a shuddering breath and they steadied, along with her heartbeat. Now wasn’t the time to try and resolve any issues she had. No, she had a bigger problem to deal with…

“ ** _PEDRI!_** ”

Well, it looked like half the problem had already solved itself. She didn’t need to look very far to find Wrathia in a passionate lip-lock with her husband, and the image made Ava’s stomach clench and bitter bile churn.

Looking away from the lovers, she could see Odin staring at the two in obvious disgust, before glancing up and seeing her. His dream-clothes were a leather jacket and coal black pants, with heavy soled shoes and a dark shirt.

Ava, in contrast, wore a red dress with thin straps over her shoulders. She was barefoot and felt awkwardly exposed, like a nerve that should’ve been hidden under flesh but was now out in the open.

Odin took a step toward her.

The drawers in her mind rattled as she took a step back.

His expression dropped into surprise as he looked around, the cherry-wood drawers, glossy and neat with golden handles, all stopped at once.

Ava turned to Wrathia, panic in her tone. She shouldn’t have done this. She was too unprotected in her mind, too open and unrestrained. She couldn’t deal with Odin in this state.

“Why didn’t you go to  _his_  mind, Wrathia?!” The Vengess parted lips from her lover before scoffing.

“Ava, your mind is far stronger than his. The boy over there, his psyche couldn’t take having three souls running rampant in there.”

“And my mind can?” Ava asked incredulously, eyes narrowing into scarlet slits as her skin darkened.

“Of course. He may have had my husband as a curse,” and she ran an affectionate hand down Pedri’s face “but  _I_  am the strongest of all the galaxies.”

Pedri leaned into her touch, not speaking, as though words weren’t needed.

“Ava,” Wrathia asked in a trembling tone as Pedri leaned into her “can you give me and my husband some privacy?”

Ava stalked off. “ _Gladly_. Don’t be loud or I’ll wake up.” Ava had learned that if she relived a memory too shocking, too hurtful, she would wake up instantly. Even though it wasn’t pleasant, it was something she could use against her demon, and that was worth a million nightmares.

“W-Wait! D-Don’t leave me alone w-with them!”

She didn’t stop walking.

“Ava, wait!” His hand brushed her arm and she instantly yanked it out of his grip.

“Don’t come near me,” she hissed, teeth baring and eyes flickering an inky black. He stepped away in shock at her furious appearance. She glared at him and the darkness ebbed, but only a little. She spun on her heel and kept walking.

“Wait…  _please_.” The last word had a hint of desperation and fear. It reminded her of the first time she was alone with Wrathia in her mind, or the first time she truly comprehended that she must have been crazy.

She sighed forcefully and turned back around. He blinked and his shoulders sagged as he caught up with her. “Th-Thanks,” he said genuinely, and she felt her heart flutter at his lidded eyes and lopsided smile.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied coldly, and they walked together.

Her mind was empty, save the drawers. They hid everything that might have been, and that may be. She didn’t think about it too hard, it would just make her head hurt.

“S-So this is your mind?” She made a humming noise in response. “I d-don’t see anything. J-Just the drawers.”

“That’s all that’s here.” She ran the pads of her fingers down one of the drawers, intricate and secure.

“B-But… P-Pedri said minds are made up of wh-what we are, experiences we have.” He tapped a drawer with his knuckles. “H-How is this p-possible?”

“Everything I am is behind these drawers.” She leaned her forehead against one of them, cool and smooth.

“Wh-Why?”

She felt almost serene, letting her mind wander to the clouds and think of nothing important. “No one can use what I am against me if it’s all locked away.”

“Is… Is th-this my fault?”

She scoffed and leaned back, giving him an annoyed look, eyebrows up and mouth twisted in a sneer. “You really shouldn’t give yourself all that credit. Wrathia’s been torturing me since my conception, I’m pretty sure your back-stabbing isn’t the cause of my lifetime trauma.” She looked up, towards the top drawers, drenched in the dark. “I mean, you obviously helped, but most people do. No need to feel special.”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

She closed her eyes and pointed to a cluster of drawers by the bottom. They creaked as she spoke. “Those are the people from my class, before they died. Those are their insults, bullying, physical harassment, and everything they did to me.” She pointed to another. “Those are the last words my parents told me.” She gestured with her arms wide towards a whole wall of drawers. “And this is what TiTAN made me witness. The-”

“Wait,” Odin interrupted, looking a little distressed but curious. “Wh-What about your parents? Wouldn’t th-they be a  _good_  memory?”

She blinked and cocked her head. “What?”

“Wh-What was the last thing they told you?”

The memory was already replaying before her, like some sort of home cinema she couldn’t pull away from. She could see herself, a little girl of barely five years, hugging tightly onto her mother and father with either hand.

“ _Remember_ ,” her mother said aloud - she couldn’t remember her mother’s face, but her warm hands on Ava’s shoulders - “ _Me and papa love you very much._ ”

Ava could see herself, a little girl, nodding and rubbing her eyes as watery tears streaked down her peachy cheeks. As she was beginning to be escorted away by a TiTAN employee - all Ava remembered was the cold and the blue - she heard her father mutter something.

“ _Thank God._ ”

Ava clenched her eyes shut, but the memory didn’t stop.

“ _Thank God we don’t have to deal with her anymore.”_

She forcefully pushed the memory back into the drawer where it belonged, panic in her throat as the drawer slammed and sealed in a solid block with all the others. She steadied her breathing and her heartbeat, she forced herself to calm down, running her hands along her shoulders and shaking her head.

Thinking back, her parents must have been her very first betrayal. They lied to her so earnestly.

“Th…Th-That can’t be right.”

Odin. She had forgotten he was there in the panic of sealing another mental wound.

“It’s my past,” she heard herself saying. “There’s a reason for all these drawers.” She felt numb and stood up, her limbs trembling and her hands feeling surprisingly cold and clammy. “You should go back to your own mind.”

“Ava, th-there has to be something in h-here that’s a good memory. S-Something you d-don’t have to hide.”

Shock and resignation gave way to anger.

Her skin stained black, her scars pulsing a bright red like her sclera. The rest of her eyes were darker than a grave at midnight, her voice sharp and high.

“ _You’re not my doctor. You’re not my friend. Hell Odin, you’re barely even my ally. You’re here for your own gain and that’s it, so stop playing friends if all you’re going to do is wallow in your own guilt_.”

He flared back, his eyes going a white-silver in contrast to her colorations. “Wh-What do you know about how I feel?!”

She looked up into his face, feeling nothing but the white hot blinding rage that made her drawers crack open, magma spilling over. Odin pulled away from the molten slag, looking around in confusion.

 ** _“I know that you’d rather fester in your guilt than actually apologize for throwing me to the wolves like bait. I know you’d rather I told you that it was all your fault so I can verify your self-pity. But guess what?_** ” She threw her hands to the sides, sandpaper vocal chords grating his ears. Her fingers spread and curled like talons as she gestured around herself. “ ** _Congratulations, Odin Arrow! You are not the first person to betray me and my trust!_** **Amazing _!_** ”

He stood his ground, pride too strong to make him back down. “I am tr-trying to help! I’m tr-trying to fix the w-weird  _thing_  we have between us!”

 ** _“What thing?!”_**  She demanded, shoving him backwards. Even though he fell into the lava, it didn’t burn. Not physically, anyway.  ** _“_** **You _destroyed what we had! There is no_ thing _, there’s just you, your guilt, and me as a tool of your own loathing!_ You  _took our friendship away!”_**  She snatched him up by his collar and rammed him into one of the drawers. The choking noise he made was almost satisfying.  ** _“_** **You _took my loyalty away!_ You  _ruined my trust in my allies!_** ” The words were toppling out of her mouth in a venomous string of non-stop yelling. ** _“You took away my happy memories!”_**

He blinked, staring at her with those damnably beautiful indigo eyes. She wanted to claw them out. “Wh-What?”

“ ** _You go on and on about me having happy memories, about having good things to remember about people I care for_** ,” she snarled, leaning into his face until they were only inches apart  **“I thought you were my first!”**

The pure shock on his face was enough to make her hesitate to continue talking. She rocked a little on her feet, fighting back angry tears before dropping him and spinning around. Her drawers began to creep shut again, and she hated that. The hot tears down her face meant that she was more hurt than she had realized.

“…you were my first happy memory…” she trembled quietly “…in my new life…”

She started to force herself to wake up, started to feel the covers of the blankets on her and a warm mass around her, but not before she heard Odin say something.

“Y-You were mine.”

Ava awoke with a jerk. It was still dark out, meaning she had cut things short. She could feel the hot tears down her face, feel the hiccups in her lungs. She started to blink, adjusting to the darkness. Something tightened around her.

She realized Odin was holding her close, her face against his chest. Her heart beat hard against her ribcage.

“A-Ava.” She shut her eyes so tightly lights and shadows sparked behind her lids. “ _Ava_.” His voice was gentle, soothing - affectionate. She wanted to melt into that voice, she wanted to forget that she ever met him, she wanted him a million miles away and never to leave her side.

Her heart ached.

He reached out and pulled her hair from her face, and she flinched from how smooth the gesture was. “P-Please don’t cry.”

No. He wouldn’t manipulate her again.

“I have every right to cry,” she replied with a bite in her tone, but it was watered down by how weak she sounded. She sat up and untangled herself from his arms before setting bare feet on the floor and leaning her elbows on her knees.

“Y-You do,” he replied with a sigh, and she felt the bed shift as he sat up. It felt like he was going to say more, but couldn’t pull the words out of his mouth.

Ava remained silent for a few more moments before standing up. “I’m going back to my bed,” she muttered unhappily, her eyes still puffy from crying.

Odin watched her leave.

> **OOO**

The next morning was extremely awkward. The tension between Ava and Odin was undefinable, and even Crow and Raven noticed the change. They couldn’t put their finger on what kind of tension it was, only that it was potentially lethal.

Gil had cooked breakfast that morning, passing out the rations and figuring out nutrition. The twins fought over the last sweet tart while Maggie shot eye-knives at Odin. Olai looked between Ava and Odin with a touch of curiosity.

Ava stared at her plate. She had no appetite.

What was she supposed to do? She loved Odin so much, but he betrayed her. He betrayed her, and then admitted to feeling the same way. What was she supposed to do? How should she react?

He sat across the table from her, watching her movements carefully. She tried her best to ignore him and reached out to grab the salt, as all nutrition rations tasted like garbage, but Odin’s hand cupped hers.

She tried to pull it back, but it was a weak effort.

“Ava,” he started again. She didn’t look up at him, trying to block out his words with the clatter at the table, but eventually gave in, glancing up.

His eyes were such a clear indigo, almost black and shining stunningly in the light with little roots of violet stretching out from his illuminated pupil. “Ava. I’m s- _sorry_.”

The entire table went silent.

Crow and Raven dropped the sweet tart while Olai simply stared, jaw slack. Gil and Maggie looked to the other and back to Odin.

Arrows don’t apologize. It was commonplace in the household to get in an argument with a sibling, and simply refusing to admit defeat, they would ignore the other before forgetting about their initial argument and all would resume as usual.

Arrows  _didn’t_  apologize.

Ava was silent for a long moment.

Odin waited patiently, his hand still lingering over hers.

“…This doesn’t fix what you did.”

“I kn-know.” his gaze was pleading.  _I’m trying._

She sighed and looked the other way for a so many minutes that most thought she wouldn’t talk again.

“We’ll talk about this later tonight.”

> **OOO**

Ava sat on his bed, staring at the far wall. Odin sat behind her, on the opposite side.

She wet her lips and spoke.

“You betrayed me.” He winced. “You hurt me, Odin. You hurt me really badly. I trusted you. I…” She put her arms around herself. “I  _loved_  you.”

She felt the bed shift as he leaned and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to turn around. “I - Ava, I f-feel - I feel th-the same-”

“Then why?” She turned and looked at him, eyes clear as amber and no anger in her tone. No bite of fury. Only a real, dark hurt. “Why did you betray me?”

This is what it all boiled down to. Odin swallowed, and even then his throat felt dry and sharp, like glass was stuck in his lungs.

“I - I w-wasn’t thinking. I w-was concerned w-with my family, and I h-had already lost m-mom and dad and I d-didn’t want to lose anyone else b-but th-there w-wa-wasn’t ti-t-time-” as his panic escalated his stutter began to take over, and Ava waited patiently for him to gather himself. “I j-just - I thought I h-had to choose between y-you and my family, and I d-didn’t… I d-didn’t w-want to lose anyone else in my f-family again.”

She mulled over this for a moment. “I understand.”

His eyes widened. “Th-Then you-”

“This doesn’t mean that I fully forgive you, or that I’m not unhappy,” she interjected, eyes narrowing and teeth flashing bronze as her Vengess showed through her human countenance “but it’s good to know that there was at least a  _debate_  over whether or not you were going to toss me to TiTAN.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Ava, I h- _hated_  myself after I d-did that. I st-still do. I thought of a h-hundred scenarios where y-you were fine and my f-family was safe, I - I relived th-that moment every n-night.” At her silence, a thought occurred to Odin. “H-How much do y-you think I c-care about you?”

“Little enough to betray me without seeking me out until you needed to.”

“I d-didn’t think you w-would want to see me.”

She spun around, jabbing him in the chest with a finger across the small space between them. “I didn’t! I don’t! I wanted to forget about you and how much you meant to me!” His shoulders sagged and he looked downcast at the sheets.

Ava suddenly slammed her face into his chest and tightly wrapped her arms around him. His face exploded violet. “A-A-Ava?”

She didn’t reply, just sat there with her arms around his torso. After a tentative moment, he put his arms around her shoulders and sat there, taking in her warmth and her familiarity.

“I’m s-sorry,” he whispered as he lowered his face, looking at the top of her head. “I’m s-so sorry, Ava. I’m so s-sorry.” She squeezed him tighter. “I m-missed you so much. I w-wanted to s-see you again so badly, but I - I betrayed you. Wh-When I m-made a pact with Pedri, it w-was an excuse to see you again. Even if y-you didn’t want to see me anyway.” He smelled her familiar scent, ash and sweet flowers. “P-Pretty selfish, right?”

“You  _are_  a selfish person,” she replied into his shirt, where her face was pressed against his chest. “And I am too.”

He blinked, stroking her hair with his fingertips. “Wh-What do you mean?”

“Please say it.”

He sighed. “I’m s-sorry.”

“No,” her voice came out in a weak breath as she pulled away from his torso and looked up into his face, scarlet eyes bright and shining “tell me… how you feel about me.”

Odin swallowed hard, arms against her shoulders. He pulled her up onto the bed so that her legs weren’t dangling anymore, and she put her hands neatly across his chest.

He took a deep breath, his lungs rattling a little from how much he smoked. “A-Ava Ire…” Her eyes went wide and she watched him speak. “I…” He gathered his nerves and blurted sloppily “I l-love you.”

She didn’t say anything, only dipped her head back into his chest. He could feel the heat from her magma skin through his shirt, and he panicked. Is that what she wanted to hear?

“You love me.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Then promise me you’ll never betray me again. Promise me you’ll stay by my side.  _Promise_  me that you’ll be mine.”

He closed his eyes. “Th-That’s a lot to ask,” he replied quietly.

“I told you I was selfish.”

He chuckled briefly, before opening his eyes and looking back at her bright hair. “Alright. But only if y-you’ll do the same for me.”

She nodded against his shirt.

“I p-promise.”

She relaxed against his chest. He held her heap of warmth in his arms. Were they… okay now? Could he - Could he…

“Ava?” She looked up at him, and it was only then he noticed how tired she looked. Her eyes were almost foggy from exhaustion, and her cheeks were drawn in a little from forgetting to eat. Her hair was knotted and tangled in places, and Odin carefully put his palm against her cheek. Alien warmth crept down his bones, and she leaned into his touch.

She was so human.

“A-Are we okay now?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I guess so.” She sighed doggedly. “Ugh. Maybe I’m too soft. Maybe I like second chances.”

“Or m-maybe you like me,” he replied with an eyebrow wiggle. She barely laughed, a small rush of air.

“H-Hey. Are w-we together now?”

She leaned up and cupped his jaw in her hands, searching his face before planting a careful kiss on his lips. Her skin was fire, and he wanted to burn, breath hitching at the contact. He knew his skin must have gone to a leathery texture from Pedri’s influence by that point, he was blushing so badly.

“You ask too many questions,” she whispered, her lips barely brushing his while she spoke. He couldn’t trust his voice then - only nod frantically. She backed away and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m tired.”

He held her close for a moment - the girl he adored and betrayed, the girl who gave him a second chance, the girl who had grown so much while he was gone and he missed it all - before prompting her to lay on the bed. He covered her with his blanket and turned the lamp off, and he laid down above the covers.

They stared at each other.

“I’m s-sorry I betrayed you.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes, but he could still see them glowing from under her lids. “Just because you love me doesn’t make up for betraying me.”

“I kn-know.” He closed the space between them, leaning his head stop hers. “But I’m… I’m w-willing to do a-anything to win you b-back.”

After a few minutes and she hadn’t replied, Odin pulled back and found her fast asleep. He chuckled at how relaxed she was. He didn’t realize how much she needed things to be ok between them, how apologizing would have fixed so much.

It didn’t fix everything. But it did fix a lot.

Odin let his head settle into the pillow, smelling her sweet scent and feeling her warmth against his, before muttering “I w-was your first happy memory in your n-new life, huh…”

She twitched a little in her sleep, the dark bags under her eyes already fading.

“You were m-mine too.”


	31. Honest Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was around the time I finally started writing fully coherent fics instead of just stream of thoughts or drabbles

It was not a matter of opinion.

It was a fact.

Ava Ire was dangerous.

It was an unfortunate fact, as the child who once beckoned butterflies to her fingertips should be so tainted by divine powers. Both Demon and God spurred her into this state of being, not human and not alien, a foot in each path as it slowly split her apart.

An unfortunate fact.

An even more ill-fated fact was that Odin had fallen in love with this creature.

In hindsight, calling the person that saved your life a “creature” was not particularly kind, nor flattering. But he had no idea what else to call this being of magma flesh, with horns and claws, with wicked sneers like firecrackers.

Plus, the name was a lot better than monster.

Monster would have suited her well with the carnage she made of TiTAN HQ. Her wrath left a lasting mark, not only on the planet itself, but the followers who devoutly believed Elites were as angels to TiTAN their God. Elites didn’t die – they were perfect.

Yet Ava had shown them differently.

If there was one thing scavenger folk knew they were good at, it was keeping potential allies close. Ava had already done her fair share of tossing TiTAN’s world into a chaotic mess, and she rescued Odin and his sisters in the heat of the chase. If she hadn’t swept in when she did, slamming Odin against the wall and sweeping his sisters off their feet and onto the flats of their backs, Six would have had them gunned down. After all, Odin had arrived on the blue citadel with Ava, so he was already an enemy of the Followers.

Anyone associated with Ava was now an enemy of TiTAN.

No matter if they were her allies or not.

So Odin really hoped Olai was smooth talking her into joining their ship to his home-planet. They rendezvoused at a carrier vessel just out of TiTAN’s tracking range, and Olai’s original plan had been to give Odin an earful he would never forget. Instead, Odin returned with the greatest enemy TiTAN had ever faced.

It was still under debate whether or not she would just take a smaller vessel and leave. Odin wouldn’t put it past her, especially right now – whatever ‘business’ she had merited her destruction and decapitation of over twelve Elite squads.  

The door whooshed open, and Olai sauntered in with a veritable demon of justice at his side.

Ava was almost glaring at his brother, eyes like scarlet slits as she looked him over, reading his body movement and other such things. Her claws drummed the rose and white-gold sleeves of her ceremonial gear, whatever it was, and for a split second Odin saw the flash of bronze canines behind her lips as she spoke.

“This all sounds very good and all,” she replied to Olai’s speech with a voice not her own – he could hear Ava’s tones, but something else mixed in, something older and infinitely more cruel – and her arms uncrossed, gesturing to the open ship around her. “But what is it I’m exactly getting out of this? You seem  _very_  dishonest.” Ava wasn’t wrong. Olai barely told the truth, and Odin wondered what lies he tried to slip past her.

“I  _am_  being honest, Miss Ire, Scavengers are a forced to be feared,” Olai replied smoothly. “Even TiTAN-”

“TiTAN uses you a terrorist threat to bring more sheep into his fold,” she hissed, and little tendrils of smoke curled from her mouth. “So far I have seen you will do anything to protect  _yourselves_  from TiTAN, but have done nothing to  _stop_  him.” After a moment, her eyes widened, showing her irises, a great pool of molten gold, pupils dilated. “So tell me,  _honest man_ , do you intend to help me or use me? I am not a resource, but if you scavengers cannot understand the  _difference_ , I will gladly take myself off this ship-” Olai began to protest, and Ava put a slender finger up “-and anyone who tries to stop me, too.”

Olai glanced to Odin, and for a moment the host could have sworn his eldest was pleading for back-up. The Arrows were never so easy to back down from a fight though, and pride ran in the family.

“Not all scavengers are the one-eyed monsters you refer to. Some of us are simply that – scavengers. We take what others leave behind.”

Ava’s whole form rippled a dark, seeping magenta, and Odin could taste magic in the air. She was so powerful. How could the timid girl he met – what seemed like – not long ago have become  _this_  in such a short time?

“And the  _others_  that leave things behind? Does that include the Silent Scavengers?”

Olai made to speak but Ava cocked her head downwards a little, mouthing a few words. ‘Honest man,’ she warned lightly, a veiled threat if he was to attempt to lie again.

He grit his teeth. Olai could talk down angels and devils, but a Demon of Ava’s regard was nothing short of impossible to try and downgrade. Oh no, she knew her worth to the Scavengers now, and it was obvious she was throwing it around without hesitation when it came to Olai’s slithering falsehoods that fell as silent as snow.

Odin resisted the urge to laugh. Although this situation was not funny, not in the slightest, the rivalry he had with his brother was severely outmatched when it came to Odin’s stutter and the manipulation of his large, three-eyed pest.

But it seemed Olai was nothing but that to Ava – a pest to be dealt with. His brother hadn’t been in that position in a long time, and the situation Ava put him in was a fatal blow to his pride.

Odin hadn’t seen anyone treat his brother like this in a long time.

It was a breath of fresh air.

Olai was planning on riding out the silence of her question as long as he could, but Ava was patient. He finally relented, a clench in his jaw as he replied “Yes. We take some of what the Silent Scavengers leave behind.”

“And that is how you knew my planet was to be destroyed.” She pivoted off one foot, circling Olai for a moment, before turning to Odin. He felt a chill do down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as her gaze slid onto his, and she asked “Why didn’t you warn them?”

Odin blinked, not expecting the question. “Wh-What?”

She jabbed a finger through the air, pointing it at him with an accuracy that suggested she was going to break through his ribcage and tear out his beating heart. As he braced himself for just that, Ava stopped only inches from his chest. Even though she spared him, her hair was once again curling through the air like a serpent in pain, writhing and twisting. She spoke again, and suddenly Odin was staring into the face of the sun, and she poked him in the chest bluntly with her taloned finger.

“You  _knew_  my planet was going to be attacked. You tried to warn Maggie, I  _know_  you knew of it. Why didn’t you warn anyone else?”

“I d-didn’t think you c-cared,” Odin sputtered out, leaning back in his seat as to give himself a few precious inches of distance from the divine chastisement personified that was practically leaned over him.

“I care little for the people on that planet. But they were people nonetheless, and they were people you might’ve prevented the deaths of!” She turned to Olai, who had been given a few blessed moments of air from this creature. “Would you care to extrapolate, honest men?”

Olai gave her a scrutinizing look, before replying “I sent Odin to collect people of interest, people that could be important. Maggie had a DNA abnormality that caught our attention. If we knew about you-”

Ava laughed. It was like listening to a wolf’s bale in the night, the steady, cocky calling of a raven. She laughed until she had to take deep gasps of air to catch her breath, her arms around her abdomen as her whole body shook with her laughter.

“You think… you have the  _right_ , the  _privilege_ … of picking whose lives are more  _important_  than others?” She looked to Olai, her eyes spelling murder and her claws about to follow up. “How high do you put yourself on that pedestal? How  _highly_  do you regard yourself?”

“I  _am_  pretty important,” Olai challenged, and Ava snorted, turning back to Odin.

“And you? How high is your pedestal?”

Odin met her gaze evenly, thinking of her words.  _Honest man._

“I d-don’t place myself on a p-pedestal.”

She looked over him, and he could almost see plans behind her eyes, her analysis of his answer. After staring back at the star-bright eyes, she glanced to Olai with a sneer flashing her teeth like a predator. “I accept your offer, honest man. Although your title is to be used ironically only, as no words from your mouth that I have not forced were honest. Go and inform your superiors, oh  _important_  mortal.” She waved him off with the flick of her wrist, and Olai looked offended at the gesture, but it was obvious he was outmatched when it came to Ava’s rapier whip of a tongue. She was a lot more attentive than she initially looked – that is, like a monster – and so the Arrow gave a mock salute before exiting.

Odin was still sitting on the cushioned seat, and Ava turned his direction. He tensed as she neared, but she simply flopped down beside him, a startlingly human gesture for such an alien form.

“Your brother is a real piece of work,” she commented, rubbing her temples as through the discussion was nothing but an annoying meeting.

“Y-Yeah. I h-haven’t seen him get p-pegged down like that in a wh-while,” Odin replied, and the tension in his shoulders ebbed as Ava stretched. The more she acted human, the less afraid he was of her.

“He deserved it,” Ava replied, closing her eyes and leaning back, arching her neck. “No one with this much influence should think so highly of themselves. It’ll just lead to a lot of selfish decisions.”

Odin squinted at her, feeling like she was being a bit of a hypocrite. He folded his arms and squared his shoulders, almost announcing “S-Says the creature that j-just killed a whole f-fleet of TiTAN elites.”

She snickered a little, and opened one eye to look at him. “If you assume I think highly of myself because I have this ability, you couldn’t be more wrong.” She closed the eye and stretched her legs, and the fabric of her dress seemed to stretch as well, like living skin. “In fact, I find this ability disgusting, if you wouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

That made Odin think twice. “Wh-What? Why?”

Ava turned over on one side, replying with her back to him “Who would ever want to be a monster, honest man?” He didn’t have a reply for that. “I’m going to sleep. If you or another tries to slit my throat or do something equally unwise, I’m sure you can warn them of the consequences.”

As she started to settle, another question popped into Odin’s thoughts. He hesitated to ask it, but eventually curiosity gave way. “Wh-Why did you call m-me ‘honest man’?”

“You answered honestly.” She sighed and sat up, pulling the cascades of fire over her shoulder while a few stray hairs clung to her face. “The universe is filling up with masses who proclaim themselves my enemy. I am giving you the chance to not be among them.” Her words were spoken gravely, with a finality that made Odin feel like this choice – whether or not to be her honest ally – was going to affect him in ways he had not yet thought of, or may never think of.

With that last comment, refusing to extrapolate any further on the matter, Ava leaned back and closed her eyes. Her breathing steadied, and it was then that he realized she had fallen asleep.

She had fallen asleep in his presence like she trusted him.

…Was this a test? If he tried something, or left her unguarded, would she consider him among the mass, the army that she had to fight against? For the first time, Odin felt like he was looking at Ava Ire wholly, without boundaries.

Perhaps the girl he met in the woods was Ava, but she felt… small. Snappy. A little too nervous and anxious, and although she had her own charm, she was obviously hiding something other than the sneering wood implanted on the front of her chest.

The Ava he just spoke to – the self-proclaimed monster – was tired and careful, weary but spoke as though she had infinite experience when it came to people treating others like they weren’t worth anything. She was hot, burning rage, she was intimidating.

If anything, this seemed to be the part that Ava hid. It was terrifying, yes, Odin would rather chew his own arm off than be on the wrong end of those claws, but she was also amazing. In less than a few minutes she had managed to puncture a hole through Olai’s pride, and verbally dismantle the scavengers by explaining in great detail why they were completely useless to her.

On that matter, why agree to join with them, then? Was there some value to be seen in her allegiance that he hadn’t noticed?

The questions were beginning to make his head throb from how complicated things had become.

Without warning, Ava slipped and slid across, and she was leaning against Odin’s shoulder. He went fully stiff, sweat forming at his brow.

No matter how much he had come to respect and belatedly admire Ava in the short while they had spoken, he would never feel comfortable with her asleep on him. A girl that could cut your head off without looking was someone not to become to buddy-buddy with, yet he knew if he moved it would be worse.

So Odin sat, stiff and still, as the vengess slept against his arm.

However, as the minutes went by, Odin felt his own eyes closing. He knew he really shouldn’t fall asleep, that felt like a  _horrible_  idea, but he honestly couldn’t help himself.

**0000**

Odin was warm.

Instead of engine fluids and exhaust smoke hitting his face, he smelled only cinders and sweet flowers. His arms were also wrapped around something very warm, and almost fluffy, and he was more than content not to move. The warm sweet-smelling thing was half leaned against his chest, and he felt the steady rise and fall with what might’ve been breathing. He heard a barely audible, quiet mumble, and the warm thing nestled against his collarbone.

His eyes flew open in a panic.

Ava was leaned fully against his chest, blissfully asleep. Her horns had receded some, and her claws were only dully tipping her fingers, but they remained there anyway, like a small warning or a quiet testament as to what she could do.

Odin had his arms fully wrapped around her torso, propping her up against him like a pillow. It didn’t help that she was actually really warm, to the point that Odin actually debated whether he should move or not.

However, Ava answered that for him. She blinked and yawned, eyes still a little glossed. She glanced at her hand, straight in front of her face and holding a handful of Odin’s shirt, before she snapped up to look at him.

Her eyes were a rich brown, and her pupils were no longer dilated, but circular. Her cheeks flushed gold, and he felt his own burning as he jerked his arms open and stuttered out an apology.

Ava slipped out of his grip and nodded a little, looking embarrassed and bashful. “Sorry about that,” she apologized, twisting a lock of hair in her finger. “I didn’t mean to…”

“N-No,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head “I w-was my fault too…”

They sat in an awkward silence, and as though on cue, red security lights lit the entire ship an eerie red. “What’s happening?” Ava asked, her voice adopting the harder tone she had only a few hours ago.

“E-Emergency,” he replied, sitting up and pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. “It l-looks like a TiTAN heavy cruiser j-just hailed us.”

“ ** _Oh_**?”

Odin glanced up, and involuntarily took a step back. Although the red lighting dimmed her features a bit, he knew her eyes were nothing but scarlet and burning as she looked back to him, a smile opening her lips. He could  _see_  her horns driving back out of her scalp.

“ _I should go say hello_.”

Odin shouldn’t have followed her.

He shouldn’t have opened the bay doors for her to enter the vast emptiness of space and latch onto the TiTAN ship like a parasite.

Worst of all, is that it almost felt like the right thing to do so. Although he hated TiTAN – a burning, wretched hate that was black to the core – doing this meant that the scavengers were ready to take TiTAN on as an enemy.

As he watched the TiTAN ship crumple from the inside at Ava’s carnage, he should have been mortified. He should have considered her a danger to his family.

_“The universe is filling up with masses who proclaim themselves my enemy. I am giving you the chance to not be among them.”_

He watched with almost –  _almost_  – an inkling of relief and pride.

He was on the right side.

Odin knew it.

**00000**

The next time Ava would fall asleep was not her choice.

She slammed against the doorframe, denting the metal. She opened her mouth to speak but stifled a wet cough a moment later, body trembling as rivulets of blood stained her dress and pooled underneath her feet.

“Ava?!” Odin shot to his feet, his sisters shadowing him. She seemed to slip from consciousness for a split second, sliding down the door, and Odin caught her around the shoulders. “Wh-What happened? You w-went out for a s-simple scouting mission!”

“TiTAN is planning an attack on route twelve of the Cornelious star-system.” She coughed, and even though she smothered it, he could see damp blood on her hands. “Tell Olai,” she commanded Raven and Crow, and they shot off.

He led her to the medic bay, slowly. Although Ava was tough, he wasn’t sure how much she could take before even she would have to take a breather. “T-Take it easy,” he warned.

“No time,” she replied, and she stood straight and pushed herself towards the nearest console. Blood gushed from her wounds, bright golds and reds. Odin quickly followed her, and as she was using her hands to type on the terminal he smothered her wounds with his own palms. The blood burned his hands, but he grit his teeth and held onto the wounds, slowing the bleeding.

“Wh-Who is it you’re contacting?” he managed to ask between grit teeth.

“Old friend of… Mine, I suppose.” She took a breath, and Odin could see one of the wounds through her chest. It must have hit a lung. “She’s still alive, Princess Renunculae of the flower colossus.”

Her wounds were beginning to knit themselves together, and he reluctantly pulled his hands back. Blood had burned his palms and blackened his clothes, but he didn’t care. “Wh-Why her?”

“She’s six hours closer.”

After typing for a few more moments, Ava sent the message and turned to Odin. “Now we should be getting – ah –  _oooh_ ,” she tilted and staggered, and Odin helped her up.

“I s-said take it easy,” he chastised, but the barb in his tone was overtaken by his worry.

“Not my style,” she replied blearily. After a second of her gasping for air, looking upwards and tossing her head, she went limp.

Odin swore under his breath and towed her over to the medic bay. Ava was unkillable, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel pain. The others hadn’t realized that yet, and Odin was beginning to wish he could wring their necks until they did.

He set her limp form onto the medic cot, quick to wash and bandage his own raw hands before starting to patch up what wounds on Ava that weren’t healing.

Ava shivered, and Odin watched in fascination as her horns receded and her claws pulled back into her fingertips. She groaned as she seemed to shorten, her bones cracking, and after a tense moment of silence she relaxed.

And once again, Ava Ire appeared to be human.

She shivered again, and Odin pulled down a coarse blanket, tossing it over her. As he tucked the blanket up, he could see her expression was pinched in discomfort, and he idly wondered what was happening under her skin.

Ava’s jaw clenched, her neck arched and she inhaled sharply as though she was about to call out in pain – but no noise came. She simply writhed where she was, sweating gold.

“A-Ava,” he tried to console in her sleep “you’re okay, ev-everything’s fine.” Why was he doing this? He wasn’t  _that_  close to Ava. Even if she had on several occasions regarded him as the only “Honest Man” aboard the ship.

The doors whooshed open, frosted glass pulling back as Gil entered. Ava had somehow convinced him to join alongside them in the fight against TiTAN. Gil apparently had some sort of animosity for the would-be God that had shattered his initial worship.

Ava, when she was in that divine demon state, had a nickname for Gil too:  _Prodigal Son._

Odin wished he knew the context, but there was no point worrying about that now. Gil spotted him crouching alongside Ava, and the blood spotting through the blanket.

“What happened?” Gil asked softly. Although he was bitter towards TiTAN, he had studied to be a doctor, regardless of how well his teachings were.

“Sh-She got injured f-fighting a scouting t-team, I guess,” Odin supposed, thinking back to the information she had come across.

Gil lifted up the blanket and soured a little at the wounds, healing with magic and dark ripples of flesh under ceremonial cloth. He lowered the blanket. “I may not be a good enough Doctor for TiTAN’s army,” Gil muttered “but I know for a fact she won’t be able to sleep comfortably while those are healing. The least I can do is give her a mild sedative, something to stop the pain for a little while.”

“I’m s-sure she’d appreciate it,” Odin replied just as quietly, as not to wake Ava.

Gil gave her an injection and patted her arm afterwards, looking at the various medical equipment the scavengers had and organizing it accordingly.

Odin had pulled up a chair and sat beside Ava in silence, mulling over his situation.

Her face looked a lot younger and less intimidating when she didn’t have horns and claws. She was obviously older than when he had first met her – war took a toll on all – but the difference between her divine demon form and her human flesh was staggering.

“She’ll pull through.” Odin figured Gil must have translated his long stare into worry. Odin wasn’t too worried that Ava wouldn’t recover, but the time in between must have been so very painful for her.

“I kn-know she will.” _Honest man_. “Hey G-Gil?”

The silver-haired Doctor turned, cocking his head a little. “Yes, Odin?”

“Wh-Why does Ava call you ‘ _Prodigal Son_ ’? Wh-What’s the backstory to that?”

Gil’s gaze turned far and distant, looking beyond the horizon to recall the past. “The old Earth Story of the ‘Prodigal Son’ is about a son who leaves off to a city in search of riches, chasing the rumors of gold and returning home with rags.”

Odin knew the tale. He listened intently, leaning on Ava’s bed.

“However, the son’s father, even though the son had left with riches in search of more…” he wet his lips, throat going dry “he still accepted the son with open arms.”

Odin waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t he asked “A-And?”

Gil seemed to look up at the air, and although Odin couldn’t see anything the Doctor sure did. “I left my… ‘father,’ so to speak. I left for TiTAN. I returned back, and…”

“Ava accepted y-you?”

“Not after a little discussion.”

Gil was quiet for a moment, placing little plastic pill bottles up on a shelf.

“Oh c-come on, y-you can’t leave me hanging there. Wh-What’d she say?”

Gil sighed, and recalled aloud their conversation.

**00000**

_The divine demon herself outstretched her arms, dropping the screen aside as she declared “Ah, and the prodigal son returns. I take it TiTAN is not so perfect as you intended, hmn?”_

_“What do you know,” Gil snapped “I know you now, I saw the footage at TiTAN HQ.”_

_Ava’s smile didn’t waver, it only tightened. “And what did you see?”_

_“I saw a monster.”_

_She laughed, tossing her head up and focusing on the blue alien with her peripherals. “You wouldn’t be wrong, now would you? I do not deny what I am, but that makes me better than you. You deny yourself the one freedom all in this universe have.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_She pointed a finger at him, as though accusing him of some crime. “You deny yourself the ability to fail. To make a wrong and learn – you expect yourself to know everything. And that is your downfall, along with TiTAN’s.”_

**00000**

Odin nodded, fighting a smile. “Th-That sounds like something she would say.”

Gil sighed and looked back to Ava, placing the last pill bottle in the cabinet before securing it shut. “I’m… four years older than Ava. How did she become this wise?” Gil rubbed his temples. “I wonder what TiTAN did to her to warrant all this fighting from her.” The alien turned to Odin as though he would know the answer, but Odin merely shrugged.

He didn’t know why Ava was doing this – but she had one hell of a motive to go so far to get under TiTAN’s skin.

Now that was a question. What was Ava doing? Why was she doing this?

He felt like the answer was right in front of him.

Before he could consider any other possibilities, Gil yawned. “I just came in to reorganize the medication,” he explained. “I’ll be heading to my quarters now.”

Odin waved him out, opting to sit beside Ava for a little longer.

 _“…She is injured_.”

He nearly fell out of his seat spinning around, turning to see his three-eyed wraith, violet smoke and the smell of decay lingering in the room. However, the demon was not focusing on Odin at all – instead his attention was absorbed by Ava, and her shivering.

“ _She is cold_ ,” Pedri continued, a three fingered hand passing through Ava’s face as he attempted to touch her. “ _She is not supposed to be cold_.” Odin was silent in shock. He hadn’t spoken in nearly a decade, yet whenever he spotted Ava that seemed to fall away.

Pedri glanced to Odin as though the scavenger boy might hold the answer.

Odin was scrambling to pull out his pipe. “A-Ava isn’t cold,” he finally replied in a clipped tone as he attempted to pull some petals out of his journal. “If anything she’s cooking.”

Pedri shook his head. “ _Too cold for a Vengess_.” He tried to stroke Ava’s face, as though to warm her up, but eventually gave up trying. With a glance of bitter resentment Odin’s direction, he faded into the shadows.

Odin released a breath. He hadn’t used his pipe yet, so he slipped it back in his pocket.

After a moment of contemplation, Odin stood up and tossed another blanket onto Ava before scooting his chair closer to her bed. As the world subtly spun into silver and pale warmth, he fell into a light doze.

**00000**

“Oh my stars!”

Odin jerked awake, his eyes rolling back to focus on Gil’s face across the room. “Wh-What?” Odin hissed, lifting up a hand to rub his head, only to find some interference.

Ava had her arms fully wrapped around his midsection as she slept. She looked far more peaceful than she had initially, with furrowed brow and clenched jaw in pain, but that didn’t stop Odin’s face from flaring bright violet in embarrassment.

“It- It- It’s n- _not_ what it l-looks like,” Odin insisted, but Gil had already half-waved to him, a spreading blue blush on his face as he bolted out the door. Odin rapped the stop of Ava’s head with his knuckles. “W-Wake up,” he grumbled unhappily. He didn’t like to feel embarrassed – it made him open, and vulnerable.

Ava blinked slowly, before mumbling out “Oh… hi, Odin…”

He gave her an exasperated look. After another moment, she spotted where her arms were situated and she squeaked an apology. “Sorry Odin! I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” he replied, feeling oddly warm and uncertain.

Ava sat up and her fingers automatically started to probe where her wounds had been a few hours ago. Odin would say ‘last night’ but there wasn’t really a concept of night and day in the vast black of space. The big empty made everything seem a lot less significant.

“Y-You feeling better?” Odin asked carefully, looking her over. She was mostly human again, and he wondered how Olai would take that.

“Kinda,” she replied with an uncertain roll of her shoulders. “I don’t really know when anything’s  _better_  right now.”

Odin snickered. “Honest g-girl.”

She stared at him in disbelief before slapping his arm limply, muttering a “stupid” under her breath. There was still a slight smile on her face though, and the sight of it – no bronze canines, no magma out the edges of her lips – it made his heart flutter like the wild birds he used to watch from his window.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “I should go see if Renunculae has responded yet…”

Odin nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah, I’ll leave you to that.” He stood, brushing off his pants and stepping towards the automatic doors.

“Hey Odin?”

He looked over one smile, and quite suddenly he was looking at a glowing star. “Thanks for sticking around.”

_Honest man._

“A-Anytime.”

**00000**

Odin had his back leaned against the upturned chunk of cement, occasionally peeking around the edge only to be rained upon with shots. He jerked and tightened his grip around his firearm. Ava was beside him, fighting a sneer as her human eyes glanced over the Elites that neared them.

“G-Got any ideas?” he asked half-jokingly, glancing back over his shoulder.

“ ** _Locate. Eliminate_**.”

He almost cracked his neck spinning around so quickly.

Ava’s face had rivulets of blood streaming down her brow where her horns broke through – she shuddered a breath as her clothes warped and burned to ash, forming into the pact gear he had seen months ago. Her hands flexed as fingernails converted to bone, talon and sharp.

She grinned at him.

“ _Tell me, honest man… how do I look?_ ”

He glanced over her form with one sweep.

“K-Killer.”

She barked a laugh and leapt over the concrete slab. He didn’t dare look to see her carnage, she’d only feel bad about it later.

He heard screams and gunshots and cruel,  _cruel_  laughter. He sat still, breathing heavily, limbs aching where he had been shot. As long as he stayed here, he was safe. He was safer than he had been in his entire life when he was in the divine demon’s good graces.

His head throbbed as the adrenaline wore off, and he leaned back against the slab, focusing on breathing.

Time warped then – he didn’t know if it was minutes or hours when Ava threw herself back on the ground next to him, just as bloodied as himself.

“I think,” she joked with a wolfish laugh “we’re in the clear for now.”

Odin’s whole body felt light; his head didn’t feel like it was there anymore. His fingers tingled.

“Odin?”

He leaned down automatically. Even though Ava was harder and far more logical in this alien state, she still squeaked when his face collided with her shoulder. After a moment of silence, Ava did something he didn’t think she ever would.

Gently, she stroked his head.

“You’ll be okay,” she whispered, her voice almost human sounding, her hands no longer leathery but soft as silk “everything’s fine.”

He believed her.

He shouldn’t have. She was a monster. She was killing people for vengeance.

Ava killed people for the  _fun_  of it, he witnessed it himself.

But he still believed her.

The thought was bittersweet as he relaxed at her gentle petting, at her soft words and promises. Before sleep seized him, a thought occurred to him in a spider-silk haze.

_Followers think they have it tough. They think loving a God is so difficult._

He automatically nestled into her collarbone.

_Loving a monster is so much more._

**00000**

When he awoke, a blanket of ash was over him and Ava. Her communicator was beeping, and she was flicking a message into the terminal before glancing over to him. Renunculae’s best warrior stood across from them, astonishment on her pretty dark features. She had grown taller. Odin realized it had been almost a year since he had seen Maggie last.

“The  _fuck_? He your boy-toy, Ava?”

She still had that same old charm, and he groaned a little, fighting a blush as well as the pain in his limbs.

“When the Princess asked me to come and rescue old friends, I didn’t think it would be  _you_ ,” she snapped, her voice far thornier than her wooden arms.

“He’s not,” Ava replied smoothly, helping Odin sit up “I am. Lady Ranunculae and I have heavy history.”

Maggie looked purely skeptical. “ _You_  are? And how would you know the Princess, psychopath?”

Ava flashed that disturbing smile of hers, bronze teeth and mouth wide and wet as an open wound. Maggie paled at the look. “Why, Magnolia, the same way you do. How is Tuls, by the way?” Maggie stiffened. “That weeping willow barely had any inspiration to do anything alive, much less dead. How’s the pact?”

“Shut up,” Maggie threatened between clenched teeth. “What do  _you_  know?”

“It should be obvious,” the divine demon replied, shedding the last visages of human sympathy as she propped Odin to her feet “but I suppose flowers are never known for their powers of observation. Stargazing daisy,” she said almost affectionately “how you grow up without ever truly looking at the sky.”

“You’re crazy,” Maggie replied, shaking her head. “You’re –  _mad_ , or whatever.”

“Don’t you know?” Ava stepped around the concrete slab. “We’re all mad here.”

Odin and Maggie watched her walk away towards the transport vessel.

“S-Stargazing Daisy, huh?” Maggie glanced to look at Odin, and he stared steadily back. “Th-That’s her nickname for you. I w-wonder what it means.”

She tossed her hair. “I don’t care. She can say all the crazy things she wants to, I’m not listening to a single word.”

_Honest Man._

_Prodigal Son._

_Stargazing Daisy._

Odin wished desperately to know what Ava meant by all these names. She never had a solid name for Olai or the twins, or anyone else aboard. She switched around when it came to the others, but between the three of them, names were stuck.

What made them so special?

Odin passed by Pedri, automatically ignoring him.

**00000**

The time had come.

Odin had been forced to choose.

Ava or his family.

The answer should have been easy. His family or a monster. His family or the creature that tore people apart like wet paper. His  _family_  or a  _demon_.

He hadn’t thought of it like that at all.

His family, or the one he honestly adored?

With how long they had been together, how they worked together, how she mentored him and taught him the philosophy of the universe, how could he  _not_  fall in love with her. It was not so terrible to love a beast, especially one willing to fight on your behalf.

Yet, he had still chosen his family.

The hurt and betrayal that flashed on her face was so raw that Odin physically recoiled.

“ _Honest man_ ,” she had spat “I wish this one time you would lie in my face.” He had not been on the bad end of her spoken word before, not like this. Her hands clenched so tightly her claws broke through the skin of her palms and bled down her knuckles. Ava’s muscles were so taut they trembled.

She had fled, with Gil on one side and Maggie on the other. TiTAN’s folk left his ship to pursue them.

Olai consoled Odin lightly, telling him this was the way it was supposed to be. Scavengers didn’t get caught, that was how the world went round.

_“The universe is filling up with masses who proclaim themselves my enemy. I am giving you the chance to not be among them.”_

He had failed her, in this way.

Amidst Odin’s sorrow, staring at Ava’s empty cot and still trying to catch the ghost of her scent – cinders and sweet flowers – his wraith came into view.

He stared. Three eyes blazing like dying stars, he stared at Odin. Waiting. Watching.

Finally, Odin barked aloud “What?!”

“ _Make a pact with me_.”

Odin stared in disbelief. Again, this charade? He kept this act up for years before the ghost just started taunting him.

“ _I know now. I know. I saw her_.” Pedri looked at his hands, saying aloud “ _I need her_.”

“N-Need?” Odin asked breathily.

“ _My wife. My love. She is my **everything**. I need her_.” The ghost looked up, his eyes a void of knowing and understanding. “ _My Empress… Wrathia Bellarmina_.”

**00000**

It had taken a long time to come into contact with Ava again. Even longer to establish that he was sorry for betraying her.

He could still remember her pixelated face on the terminal, glaring.

“I’m an h-honest man, r-remember?”

She had glared at him, pure scarlet eyes zeroing in on him. “ _Alright, honest man. We’ll speak again soon_.” She had cut the call.

She had grown taller since the last time they had met, all that time ago. Her horns neatly framed down her cheeks now, and her hair was longer. Instead of that white gold and rose colored dress, she wore black leather with spikes and jewels. It struck him as familiar, even though he had never seen the outfit before.

Odin stared at her. He didn’t mean to.

He didn’t know if it was Pedri inside him who was so excited to see her or himself.

“The Honest Man returns.” Her words, that voice, so  _familiar_. “Speak, honest man. What words do you need to pass to a  _creature_?”

He had missed her. His pride would never let him say that, though, so he cleared his throat.

“I… n-need your help.”

A brow raised. Claws drummed her arms.

“I h-have a p… p-pact.” Scarlet eyes widened, bronze teeth flashed, it was  _so_ good to see her again. “W-With Pedri N-Nanzegani. H-He needs to m-meet with his w-wife.”

“…How convenient. And what do you get out of this pact?” Always thinking, always resourceful.

“Th-That’s private.”

She looked him up and down. He could feel her eyes lingering over the bulge in his shirt where his pact zipper lay.

“Are you planning on betraying me again, honest man?”

He met her gaze evenly. “No.”

“Will you?”

“No.”

They took in the other, watching, waiting. Ava spoke up again, though her voice was soft and her tone was clear as spring-water.

“You’ve grown.” He blinked. “You’re finally putting on some weight.”

He smiled, nodding. “Y-You’ve grown taller.”

The tension in the room drained, and Ava stepped forward and tugged on his sleeve. “Come on then, let’s allow the star-crossed demons to reunite.”

Her movements, her hair, her voice and attitude.

He didn’t realize how much he missed her before seeing her again.

**00000**

Gil had befriended Ava like no other. They both knew the sting of betrayal, both knew how horrible and wicked TITAN could be. Maggie also knew, but never as bitterly as they did. They were cut so deeply, scarred to the bitter bone.

Gil knew Ava was something else. She wasn’t just a divine demon, she had the true makings of a monster. A monster with thought. A monster with purpose and drive to her step, with nothing to lose but her own life.

So Gil felt only incredible pity when he saw Odin curled around Ava in her room, sleeping quietly together. He felt pity for the honest man in that room who so willingly loved a monster.

A monster that never wanted to be a monster.

Honest men and divine demons.

Gil shut the door and let his heart throb.

What an unfortunate fate.


	32. the too-long Tutor AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was the first fic I wrote that was really loooooooong, and tbh I just kinda wrote it and threw it at the wall for all to see like a wet paper towel

Odin slammed the door open, breaths labored as he looked over the library.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” Maggie goaded, her thick emerald hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and her sweater-vest discarded as she sat with her elbows on the table. She sneered at Odin, white teeth flashing like ivory, and Odin rolled his eyes.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” Gil admitted, rolling his shoulders a little and patting the back of his neck anxiously. “We already started the lesson.”

Bright scarlet hair glimmered in the sunlight as Ava turned in her seat. “I can… catch him up, if he wants,” she offered lamely, wringing her hands and looking off to the side.

Odin sat down in the seat across from her, tossing his backpack aside. “Yeah, s-sure,” he mumbled as he stretched out, not planning on listening to her in any way.

Both Maggie ad Odin had been getting tutored by Gil and Ava for a few weeks now. Odin knew Ava well enough, but he wasn’t actually willing to do any work – just playing through the motions.

“So what happened?” He blinked, looking back up at his ‘tutor’ with a confused expression. She stared back evenly, pulling her scarf up a little higher around her shoulders. “You were rushing through the door today. Did something happen?”

He was a little startled that she bothered to ask, or even thought of it. Then he felt a little annoyed – she was probably just being nosy.

“M-My brother w-wanted me to w-work after school. I h-had to tell him I h-had to study, and h-he gave me an earful.”

“Does he do that often?” Odin shuffled in his seat, pulling himself into a more modest position from his earlier splayed out pose. She blinked and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Does he yell at you a lot to go work?”

“Nah, he j-just… I g-guess he wants me to do m-more, and b-be better. I think th-that’s why he was madder than usual.”

Her voice went soft suddenly, quiet and gentle – far wiser than he anticipated.

“Then he must love you very much, to want to be proud of you so badly.”

She sounded wistful and somber. He sat up, suddenly feeling inadequate, feeling like he hadn’t done enough. “I – well – th-that’s one way of l-looking at it, I guess.” He paused, and glancing to the side, he could see Maggie and Gil had stopped their discussion about mathematics to listen in. “It d-doesn’t feel like th-that, though.”

“You’d know.”

Odin’s interest was piqued. “Kn-Know what?”

Ava opened up the hefty math book in front of her. “Now, we’re supposed to be studying unit three, but I don’t think you even got the main concept from unit two, right? So we’ll be working on that while Maggie works on her formulas.”

He blinked. “B-But-”

“I’d suggest taking notes.”

He groaned and hesitantly pulled out his notebook while Gil grinned at Ava, Maggie stifling a giggle.

* * *

“It’s getting late,” Ava noted, looking through the blinds of the library to see the world outside was drenched in sunset orange, and blushing pink clouds stretched over the horizon. “I guess we’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.”

“Ac-Actually,” Odin responded as he packed up his things “I h-have to help my br-brother deliver a package downtown t-tomorrow, so I won’t be here. B-Busy life, and all that.”

Gil physically prickled, furrowing his eyebrows. “You should have told us when you first came in, Odin. Now we have to reschedule.”

“Boo-hoo,” the stark haired teen responded with the roll of his eyes. “I’m s-sure a c-couple of brainiacs like yourselves can f-figure something out.”

Ava stood by the door, her hand on the door-handle and her back to the bickering teens. Gil and Odin barked at the other, occasionally insulting the other. “Hey Odin?”

He turned around, eyes dark from frustration after arguing with Gil. “ _What_?”

“You’d know.” She glanced, just barely over her shoulder, enough for him to see the flash of scarlet eyes. “If your brother didn’t love you.” With that last comment, carrying over the distance like spider silk, she exited in silence.

Maggie hoisted her purse over one shoulder. “I’ll be here tomorrow, Gil,” she tried to rectify as well as earn the student-teacher’s favor, and Gil responded with a small smile.

“Thank you for your devotion to your future.” Gil glared at Odin before exiting, and Odin threw his hands up in the air.

“Wh-What’d I do?” He asked to the empty space, and Maggie slapped his shoulder with a wicked sneer.

“Maybe if you were more  _devoted to your future_ , he wouldn’t be so mad at you.”

He snorted. “I d-don’t care about h- _his_  opinion.”

Maggie blinked and looked back at the door. “What, you care about what the class freak has to say? She’s a total egghead, Odin. I wouldn’t spend a single second on what came out of her mouth.”

Maggie exited with a swagger to her hips, and Odin followed not long after.

* * *

The next day, Odin was, predictably, absent from his tutoring.

Ava stared through the window of the library during the duration of the tutoring session, meditating. Her eyes were half lidded, serene, as though she was seeing something past the pane of glass and the small, gritty town underneath them.

Gil was very concerned.

Maggie sighed as he looked off to Ava again, and she raked her nails through her curly hair. “Ava has always been a little crazy, we should just get on with the lesson, Gil…”

He dragged his gaze back to Maggie, and his blue eyes brightened almost fiercely. “Wait, you’ve  _known_  Ava?”

Maggie sat back a little, picking at her nails. “Yeah, but she’s  _crazy_ , totally out of her head. I’ve known her since kindergarten and she’s always had these weird fits, and, well.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry. She’s  _always_  been crazy.”

Gil stared at her for a moment, before his brows knit together in concern. “You’re telling me that since she has  _always_  been crazy, that we  _shouldn’t_  be worried.” Maggie’s face flushed at realizing how she sounded. “Maggie, when was the last time Ava had one of these ‘fits’?”

Maggie opened her mouth, before shutting it suddenly, actually having to think back for a moment. “I guess… It’s been awhile now. But anyway, I’m just saying,” she waved her palms a little “that you shouldn’t be too worried over her. We should just get on with our lesson.”

Gil looked wary at the thought, and Maggie held her breath.

“Gil?” He turned, and Ava had her bag over one shoulder and her books cradled in her arms. “I’ll head home early, since Odin isn’t here, and you can handle Maggie on your own. I have some stuff to do at home anyway.”

He hesitated, before nodding. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow, and don’t forget your thesis for English.”

Ava replied with a single nod, before exiting the library. Maggie watched her leave. “Wait, aren’t you a student-teacher? In college, and all that?”

“Yes, why?”

Maggie leaned forward in her seat, bobbing her knee under the table. “Then how are you sharing a class with Ava? We’re only juniors.”

Gil beamed back at the girl. “Actually, Ava is a splendid student – she’s already passed all the senior classes, and has been taking college courses with her few remaining subjects. If she wants, she can graduate this year.”

For some reason, the thought didn’t sit well with Maggie. “So you share classes?”

“A few, actually. Advanced English, Mathematics, and World Studies.” Gil tapped a pen against his lip as he flipped through the math textbook. “That’s how I met her, actually. We were grouped together for a project, and I invited her to become a tutor alongside myself.”

Maggie snorted. “So that explains why Ava is tutoring a senior…” Honestly, Maggie had just thought that Odin was completely stupid. But at the moment, the emerald-haired girl decided to sate some curiosities while Gil was feeling chatty. “So what college do you go to?”

“TITAN’s University,” he replied smoothly, finally finding the right chapter. “It’s a good college if you’re looking into it – there are even sponsoring programs between students.”

Maggie blinked in confusion.

“Ah, a sponsoring program. A student that is currently enrolled in TITAN’s University can recommend a graduate from Highschool, so they’ll have a higher chance of entering.”

Maggie bobbed in her seat, biting down her excitement. “And if a student has really good grades, then the chances are even higher, right?”

He nodded. “High grades and a sponsor will definitely get you into TITAN’s, as long as you’re devoted enough.

Maggie was suddenly very devoted to her grades.

If Gil sponsored her, she could graduate and follow her Prince Charming right into college.

“I’ll be sure to work hard,” she promised aloud.

* * *

Odin weaved down the streets of downtown lazily, looking at all the various shops and second-hand stores that littered the area. He already delivered the package from Olai – now he had an hour more than he would otherwise to do as he wished.

The sun would be setting soon – but instead of lush pinks and violets warming the sky, the clouds were slate grey and churning. The air smelled damp.

Odin sighed a little. A storm was coming, and from the looks of it, a big one. Luckily, he had his car.

Thunder clapped and lightning slithered through the sky like electric serpents, and with them came a douse of water.

He felt sorry for anyone caught out in this weather on foot.

The flash of scarlet hair and a heavy jacket caught Odin’s eye, and he slowed his truck to a stop. Although the rain was already beginning, fogging up the roads and drenching everything a cool grey, he could still distinguish the girl walking on the sidewalk.

It seemed that Ava Ire did not have a car.

She was hunched over a little as she walked, the rain pelting her back as her protected her textbooks tight in her arms.

Guilt gripped at his chest like a snake. Maybe if he had told her yesterday ahead of time, she could have been home already instead of walking in the rain.

He hesitated, before internally swearing and leaning over, fingers shoving against the handle as the door opened.

The sound of rain flooded into his car, and he shouted “Ava!” The girl jerked a little, before blinking owlishly and looking around. Her fluffy red hair clung to her face and clothes, dripping with water, and her cheeks were flushed a deep pink from the cold. She spotted the parked car across the way, and he cocked his head a little. “G-Get in!”

Ava rushed across the street, puddles already gathering at her feet and the muddy water splashing up her legs and staining her socks. She piled into his car and shut the door, shivering.

“H-Here,” he took her books and set them on the seat between them. “I’ll g-give you a ride h-home.”

She simply stared at him, wide eyed with damp hair and bright pink cheeks. The expression was full of awe and general shock, leading him to feel like a bigger fool than before.

“L-Listen,” he looked away from her, starting the heater in his car so that she wouldn’t catch a chill “I… sh-should have t-told you ahead of time. Ab-About my job.”

He looked back to her, and Ava had ducked her face into her damp collar, hiding behind her scarf. “…S’ok.” She replied quietly.

He felt a rush of relief – why, he didn’t know, he didn’t care about her opinion, right? – and started his truck up at a snail’s pace. “S-So where d-do you live?”

“Over on the other side of town,” he could hear her teeth chatter as she responded “next door to the Surplus Army Good’s store?”

“Oh yeah,” he muttered, thinking back to that place. He was pretty certain the owner of the shop also had her hands in some other dirty dealings, but nobody was going to ask her about it.

Ava was nearly silent as she stared out the window, in some sort of serene state. Odin kept glancing over to her, almost worried.

He wasn’t worried about her having one of those ‘fits’ people at school rumored about.

He wasn’t worried that she would break anything in his car.

He was worried  _about_  her.

After realizing that, he set his tongue firmly behind his teeth and decided not to engage in any small talk. If her few conversational words were enough to make him swoon, to hell with it. He just wouldn’t talk to her. He didn’t want a crush, and so he wouldn’t get one.

However, Ava started talking first.

“So how did your delivery go? The one your brother sent you on?” She was still looking at the window, and after he didn’t respond, she turned and glanced at him expectantly.

He held his breath for a moment, before exhaling in a short rush and muttering “As w-well as anticipated…”

“Pretty rough then, huh?” She laughed, once, dry and clipped. “Yeah.”

Odin stared at her melancholy expression and downcast eyes, the twist to her smile and the bitter tone she spoke in. “W-Was your day r-rough too?”

He had to look back at the road once the light turned green, but he could see her slight nod from his peripherals. “Yeah, but that’s not new.”

“Wh-Why’s that?”

He heard her scoff and felt her shift in the seat. “I don’t hear  _you_  being nicknamed  _the class freak_.”

Odin flinched a little. He would be lying if he hadn’t referred to Ava by that name to others before he knew her. For some reason, he had this blind hope that she didn’t know how people spoke to her behind her back, the mutters when she passed by. Maybe it wasn’t for her own gain, but so he didn’t feel guilty when he referenced her as the class freak to those that didn’t know her by name, but reputation.

“…Sorry,” she apologized quietly. It startled him. “It’s not your fault people call me that. I’m sorry for snapping.”

“N-No, it’s not – y-you’re-” he paused, trying to grasp his words. “-Don’t be sorry. Y-You’ve had a r-rough day, right?”

A small smile cracked across her features, and she nodded.

After a moment she gestured with her right hand to stop. “This is my home,” she muttered looking out the window. By now it was the peak of the storm, curtains of water gushing over the streets and filling the waterways.

Ava stared through the window for a moment longer, fogging up the glass, before turning back to Odin. “Are you doing anything?”

He shrugged. “Oth-Other than avoiding my f-family, not really.”

“Well,” she gathered her books in her arms and hoisted her backpack over one shoulder, preparing to step out the door “do you like hot chocolate?”

Odin blinked, before realizing she was offering him to come inside. On one hand, a hot drink sounded really good right now. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how much more time he could spend with Ava without destroying his already conflicted mind.

“It’s just an offer,” she added hastily, hand on the car door. “I understand if you don’t want to. I just wanted to thank you for the ride.”

 _She thinks I don’t want to come inside because she’s the class freak_ , and the thought struck Odin harder than the lightening outside. That wasn’t the case. He didn’t want to come inside because he didn’t want to like her any more than he already did.

After a moment, that reasoning struck him as foolish and immature.

“H-Hot chocolate sounds great,” he replied with a lopsided grin. Ava’s face flushed bright pink again before she opened up the car door, and Odin decided it was because she was still soaking wet.

They rushed over to her front door, Ava nearly slipping in the water and Odin cursing internally that he didn’t say no to this fiasco from the beginning, until they were finally on her front porch.

Ava unlocked her front door and flicked the light on.

As Odin entered, he felt his brows furrow. This didn’t seem right.

He was expecting to see a cozy little home, with white tiled walls and an air freshener bottle sitting on counter.

Instead, the interior was dark, and stuffy. The tables were covered by documents and what appeared to be weaponry, scaling from a simple knife to a loaded rifle leaning on the side. As Ava peeled off her scarf and jacket, setting them on a chair, she tossed a towel at Odin. He almost didn’t catch it from looking at the décor.

“Q-Quite the home you have,” he stated airily, drying his hair.

“Yeah,” Ava shrugged as she had a towel around her shoulder and was pulling out a carton of milk from the fridge “my mom mixes home and work a lot.”

“Wh-What’s your mom  _do_ , exactly?”

“She runs the Surplus Military Supplies store next door.”

Odin froze.

 _Shit_.

“Y-Your mom is  _Wrathia Bellarmina?_ ”

Ava was heating up a pot of milk as she fished down the hot coco mix. “Yeeesss? If we’re being technical, I’m her  _adoptive_  daughter, so don’t worry about her being offended having a boy in the house. She couldn’t care less about what I do.”

He pulled his jacket off and hung it over a chair to dry. “Y- _You’re_  not worried about being alone w-with me?” He did have a reputation for being a thug, if the leather jacket and smoking problem weren’t loud alarms.

She gave him a flat look. “I’m hardly tempting,” Ava replied as she filled the mugs.

“I w-wouldn’t say that,” Odin muttered under his breath, and they both froze. Ava’s face brightened with a blush, and she cleared her throat awkwardly.

Odin rubbed the back of his head, looking away. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud, but it was a slip of the tongue.

“Did you want cream?” Ava asked in a high squeak, and Odin responded with a gruff, noncommittal noise. He heard the hiss of a nozzle being pressed as she swirled whipped cream into his mug, and she handed it to him.

It smelled heavenly, and he took a deep sip from the mug. It scalded his tongue some, but he couldn’t care less. The drink was just sweet enough for him to taste it, but not overwhelm him.

Ava leaned against the counter with her mug cradled in her hands. “So, why were you really surprised about my mom?”

Odin looked off to the side, his face twisting into an unattractive expression of discomfort. “W-Well. Your mom g-gets a lot of deliveries. A-And my family d-delivers a lot of p-packages.”

“So you deliver stuff for my mom, so what?”

“Y-Your mom has s-some  _really_  scary shit flown in. L-Like,” he waved a hand in the air, as though he could physically grasp his words “my b-brother was intimidated, and h-he’s a  _felon_.”

Ava shrugged with an empathetic frown. “That still doesn’t explain why you were so surprised.”

“I didn’t th-think she had a kid, because you two h-have different last names…”

“ _Adopted_ ,” she restated, putting her mug in the sink. “I kept my real mom’s name because Wrathia didn’t really want to be associated with me all that much.”

Odin nursed his mug until the coco was cool. “If sh-she doesn’t like you, why adopt you?”

“Legalities. She had to.” Ava seemed to grow tense at the topic of conversation, and pulled her towel tighter around her shoulders. She wandered over to the window and yanked silky purple curtains aside. “Oh. The rain’s stopped.”

Odin put his mug in the sink and meandered over to where she was standing, and looked over her head. The sky was scattered with intermittent cloud and patches of yellowing sky. The world looked golden. It made Ava’s face look bronze, and her hair seemed to flash like fire.

Ava turned and almost ran into Odin’s chest, and he stumbled back to put some distance between them.

“Well, thanks for the ride,” Ava blurted as she pulled her hair over one shoulder. It was now drier, and stray scarlet hairs seemed to frame her face.

“Y-Yeah, anytime,” Odin responded, and he looked the other way. “I… should go.” He grabbed his jacket, still damp around the seams, and slipped it on. “I’ll s-see you tomorrow,” he bid goodbye, and they waved as he stepped out the door.

Once he shut the wooden door behind him, he leaned against the surface and rubbed his face.

Fantastic.

He had a stupid crush on his tutor.

He unlocked his car and sat inside, rubbing his face, before starting it up and heading home.

OOO

Ava sat in her room, hugging a pillow and feeling like a wreck.

Odin had talked to her, treated her like a person. But those were just qualities of a decent human being, not someone who liked her or anything. He’d even been hesitant about coming into her home – and she really couldn’t blame him – but Ava felt like a mess anyway.

She patted her face and turned off her lamp for the night, her arms and face aching where Wrathia had recently punished her. The cuts would need to be re-bandaged the next morning, and she’d have to find another jacket to wear, as the one she usually wore needed to be washed.

Sighing, she sunk into her bed and decided those were problems for tomorrow.

OOO

Maggie straightened her shirt for the hundredth time.

She didn’t know why she was so nervous. Really, this was no big deal.

Ava was Gil’s friend. If Maggie repaired – or faked – their friendship, Gil would approve, and she would get closer to him, and it’d be a fairytale love life.

But for some reason, the thought of speaking to Ava again made Maggie’s skin itch and her hands feel clammy. Not specifically speaking to Ava, but lying to her about being friends again.

In theory, it was a great idea to get closer to Gil. In reality, Maggie was having second thoughts.

However, Ava stepped through the door as quiet as a mouse, and Maggie decided it was now or never. As she approached the redhead, Maggie felt taken aback by Ava’s change in outfit. Usually Ava wore the same thing – a thick red jacket that cuffed her wrists, a hefty scarf that hid most of her face – but today she was wearing a long sleeved sweater that hung loosely around her shoulders, and no scarf.

Ava looked nervous about it too, as she put her books in her locker and seemed to jump at every noise.

Maggie squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and tapped Ava’s shoulder.

The redhead spun around and shrunk in panic, eyes flashing and lips pursed. “O-Oh… Maggie… did you… did you need something?” Her voice was even quieter than usual, and Maggie cocked a hip.

“Uh, yeah.” She worried her lower lip between her teeth before stating “Good morning, Ava.”

Ava looked around, back and forth down the hallway, before responding quietly “Good morning…? Did you need the chapter work for later? Because Gil has most of that, already.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “No, I just wanted to- to…” she trailed off as she studied Ava’s face for a moment. There was blotch, just under her eye, that was a shade lighter and oiler than the rest of her skin. Concealer? She was probably trying to cover a blemish. “Ok, your make-up is really sketchy,” Maggie noted, and pulled on Ava’s forearm. “Come on, I think I have your shade.”

They sat on a bench by the cafeteria, and Ava looked squeamish, wringing her hands together and trembling. “There’s no need to do this, Maggie…” she had persisted, and Maggie huffed as she pulled out a darker shade for Ava, along with a moist towelette to wipe the concealer off.

“Look, I’m doing you a favor, egghead, take it for what it’s worth.” Maggie felt like she should’ve been bitter and angry at Ava, for that horrible outburst all those years ago, but it seemed her passion was stagnant. Maybe she was just tired. Ava put up her hands to try and stop Maggie, but she slapped them aside and wiped the concealer off with one fell swoop.

She crammed the towlette into her make-up bag and pulled up the tube of concealer, turning back around. “Now hold still-” Maggie looked up and her voice caught in her throat.

Ridging along Ava’s cheekbone, slightly puffy, was a darkening bruise. It was violet near the center, with droplets of red scattered within’ it, before it faded to an ugly yellow around the edges.

“I ran into a door,” Ava excused lamely, fingers probing the soft skin.

“Bullshit,” Maggie snarled, hooking her hands around Ava’s wrists “I’m not stupid, Ava.”

Ava wrenched her hands out of Maggie’s grip. “And neither am I. Why are you being friendly to me all of a sudden?” Maggie felt her stomach twist and fought to calm it. “I don’t know what Gil said to you, but it doesn’t matter, alright? You’ve got better things to do and waste your time pitying me.” Ava stood up and ducked her head, blocking her face with her bangs.

“Wait, Ava,” Maggie stood up, shoving her make-up bag back into her purse and following her ex-friend. “We should talk,” she offered with a forced smile, trying to swallow her pride and years of anger towards the redhead.

“What’s there to talk about?” Ava replied in a startlingly cool tone, eyes even and jaw set. “I already know you think that I’m the class freak, and that I’m crazy, and that I’ll always be crazy.” Her eyes softened. “And I don’t blame you. Not one bit. But trying this, to fake your way to be friends with me again – it’s not going to work.”

Ava walked past Maggie, who was practically glued to the floor, her nails digging into her palms and her shoulders rigid.

She muttered “Not until you  _really_  believe I’m not crazy.”

The bell for first period rang, and Maggie lost Ava’s red hair to the swarms of teens that flooded the halls.

OOO

Gil realized he hadn’t seen Ava in such a foul mood in many weeks. As they took notes, he kept glancing back to the redhead, who seemed to absorb her entire attention on the work ahead of her.

The bell rang, and he hastily gathered his books and walked beside her to class, as they usually did.

“Is something wrong, Ava?”

She shook her head a little, but it was a weak gesture.

“Really?”

She sighed and tightened her hug on her textbooks. “Maggie tried to be friends with me again.”

Gil’s face split into a sunny smile. “What, that’s great!”

“No, it’s not.” Ava’s eyes seemed shadowed as she spoke. “It was all fake. All pity and – I don’t know, it just wasn’t real.”

Gil’s heart went out to the girl, and he put a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Maybe after school at tutoring, you can talk to her about it?”

Ava shrunk inwards, her fingernails biting the binding of her books.

“You can at least try, Ava. Have a little faith.”

OOO

Odin couldn’t put his finger on it, but Ava was far more morose than the day before. She didn’t try to make conversation or combat him philosophically. She just went through the motions.

Odin put his hand on her shoulder across the table, and she winced. “H-Hey,” he consoled quietly “what’s wrong?”

“A lot of things,” she admitted, nose buried in the math book. “I don’t wanna talk about it here.”

He glanced to the left, where Maggie and Gil had stopped talking and were listening in. Once noticing that Odin was giving them both a dirty look, they hustled back into their lesson.

“I’ve g-got work after tutoring,” he said with a sympathetic look.

Maggie, who was sitting across from Gil, blurted bashfully “Hey, there’s a party at Renunculae’s tonight, if you wanted to come.”

Gil sighed and shook his head. “No, but I suppose this means the both of you want to be released early from your studies?”

Both Maggie and Odin nodded.

The student-teacher rubbed his temples. “Fine, go, you wily teenagers. We’ll be behind a lesson, though.”

Ava spoke up quietly. “I’m always available at lunch, if you guys want the chapters.” However, both the teens had their bags and purses over their shoulders and were stepping out the door.

“Well Ava,” Gil nudged her with his elbow “it seems we have some time to ourselves.” However, the playful gesture caused her to wince and automatically grab her arm. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she lied “I’m just a bit sore, is all.”

Without warning, Gil yanked down the loose sleeve of her shirt.

“Hey – Gil!” she shouted, attempting to pull the sleeve back up, but his expression was drawn in with shock.

“Ava…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He pursed his lips. “I am studying in Medical Sciences. Let me just… take a look?”

There was no one else in the library, and Gil was her friend. So Ava sighed and pulled her hair over one shoulder as Gil removed the gauze, his medical kit handy.

There were various lacerations across her arms and throat, reddening and inflamed. “Ava, who did this?” He demanded sternly, looking at her face. She didn’t answer. “Please tell me, we can-”

“It won’t matter,” she interrupted quietly. “Last time they couldn’t prove anything, and they won’t be able to this time either. My mom is Wrathia Bellarmina, Gil. You can’t stop her.”

Gil bit his lip. Wrathia was well known for winning any court case, with her Queenly attitude and powerful allies. Even his adoptive mother, Nevy, had lost land to her back in the day. “Well… I have an idea.”

As he patched her arm up, Ava listened intently.

OOO

Odin didn’t know why he had the sudden urge to do this, but he walked into the shop, browsing anxiously.

Ava was nice. She was helping to tutor him, in spite of his slow learning and nonchalant attitude.

He wanted to do something for her.

“I n-need a gift. F-For a girl.”

OOO

The next day at tutoring, after studying and small-talk was achieved, Odin had thrust the small gift out to Ava before darting away like a shadow in the night.

Ava had marveled at the gift. It was a slender gold locket, with a grinning face carved intricately around it. The face had little shining red jeweled eyes, and the curve was secured around a gold chain. There was a keyhole that suggested it came with a key, but it didn’t matter. It was beautiful on its lonesome.

“Oh,” Ava had said aloud, looking at the little object with awe. It was a gift, from Odin.

The gesture made her heart flutter, and she pulled the chain around her neck. The locket hung under her shirt snugly, the cool metal surface against her skin, and Gil smiled fondly at the blush over her cheeks.

“Why’dya think Odin gave me this locket?” She tapped it over her shirt, and Gil laughed a little.

“My assumption is because he likes you, Ava.”

Her blush deepened, and her smile seemed to wiggle as she tapped the locket. “Maybe he does.”

OOO

The next day at tutoring, it was a Friday. Both Maggie and Odin were eager to get out.

“It’s Friday!” Maggie had announced happily, a swagger to her hips as she flopped into her usual seat. “And lemme tell ya’ I am going to find  _the_  party tonight!”

Odin was hastily writing down sloppy notes from the textbook. “I h-have a c-celebration to get to as well. M-My little sisters finally p-passed their hunting class, so th-they can handle firearms legally.”

Gil tapped the textbook in front of Maggie while Ava prodded her locket.

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” Maggie chimed again, checking her phone for any texts and going back to writing half-hazard notes.

“You’re pretty excited, huh?” Ava asked quietly.

“Well, yeah.”

Odin nodded as well. “W-We’ve got things to d-do. Wh-Who would want to spend time here when th-they could be out there, actually  _doing_  something.” He didn’t notice Ava slowly standing up. “M-Maybe for b-brainiacs that spend all their time on s-schoolwork this sort of thing is f-fun, but to those of us with lives out there, th-this is  _really_  boring.”

Ava slammed her textbook shut and began putting her things away, stuffing them into her bag.

“W-Wait, what are you-”

She spun around, and there was fury saturated into every word as she spoke. “So I guess you don’t think highly of those who do stay after school and study without being pressured, or who spend time taking notes and doing  _brainiac_ things?” She took in a shuddering breath. “Well maybe for you people who have friends to text and families to get to, the  _class freak_  shouldn’t keep you from your  _lives_.”

With that, she slammed the door behind her.

Gil cursed openly.

Odin and Maggie glanced to each other as he began packing up his things. Maggie spoke up. “What just happened?”

Gil glared, and both of them stiffened. “In case you haven’t  _noticed_ , Ava doesn’t have family. She doesn’t have the party life or a bunch of siblings to keep her company, school, studying – this is her only place to get away from it all, and you just sat there,  _openly_  criticizing that!” He pulled his bag over one shoulder. “She offered the both of you all that she had, her knowledge, her time and talents – and not once did either of you invite her to a party or something after-school.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Why do you think I invited her to be a tutor in the first place?”

Both students were wide-eyed and felt hollowed out – ashamed.

“Tutoring ends early today,” Gil announced darkly “after all, it is a Friday, isn’t it?”

He slammed the door as Ava did, and the library was silent.

“He just left,” Maggie whispered quietly, her voice tight and her stomach doing summersaults.

Odin crammed all his things into his bag and started for the door. “Wait,” Maggie called out “where are you going?”

“I’m g-going to find Ava,” he replied quietly. “And I’m g-going to… apologize.”

Maggie caught up to him. “What about your little sister’s party?”

He snorted as he crossed the threshold out the library. “I’m s-sure they can m-manage. That’s j-just a party. Ava is m-more important to me than that.”

Maggie was keeping up with him. “Well… then I’m coming too.”

It was an unexpected declaration, but Odin simply nodded and started on foot downtown. Ava had to be around somewhere.

OOO

“I saw her with Gil earlier,” prom princess Renunculae replied sweetly, a flower crown bound in her hair. Her best friend, Tuls, sat silently beside her. “Why, did something happen?”

“Yeah,” Maggie replied, looking back up to Odin. He shrugged helplessly – they hadn’t come to the mall at all. “Look I gotta go, I’ll see you later Princess.” As she walked off to join back up with Odin, she called out over her shoulder “and don’t forget our art project, Tuls!” The large fellow groaned as she kept pace with Odin.

“Th-The only clue I got was th-that Gil visited the Aquamarine Shoppe over here,” Odin told Maggie, and they stepped in.

The walls were lined with fishtanks, with all different varieties of underwater creatures. A very attractive lady stood by the counter, her tight cerulean dreadlocks tied back in a ponytail. “Can I help you?”

“Y-Yeah,” Odin replied as he neared the counter and Maggie looked over the fish. “Did G-Gil Marverde pass through here at all today?”

She blinked, before laughing. “I should hope so. My Gil did pass through about half an hour ago though, with his little redheaded friend in tow.”

“ _Your_  Gil?” Maggie asked with a quirk in her brow and a slight suspicion in her tone.

“Well, I should hope my own son belongs to me,” she responded with another laugh. “The name is Nevy, and I think Gil and Ava decided to go talk something over with Miss Bellarmina down the district.”

Odin swallowed hard.

OOO

The door chimed as the tiny bell at the top of the door was rustled, and Odin stepped inside. Maggie was on his heels, but her presence did little to relieve him of his anxiety.

The inside of the Military Good’s store was dim, lit by little yellow bulbs. Everything was shadowed, and the entire place was heavy with cigarette smoke. All the weaponry was dulled in the light, and the sallow light seemed to lead a path to the only seat in the entire store.

The woman was wearing a tight violet dress, and she leaned leisurely on her chair. Between two fingers, was nestled a long wooden pipe. Lavender smoke wandered lazily around her, and little glowing embers scattered from the niche in the pipe as she exhaled.

Her hair was draped around her, thick crimson locks shimmering in the light. Her dark skin looked gold as sharp eyes zeroed in on her recent guests.

Wrathia Bellarmina.

Odin steeled himself and stepped forward. As he opened his mouth to speak, she spoke first.

“I don’t sell to teenagers,” she drawled, looking back to a book in her lap. After neither teen had moved, she glanced back up with a sneer. Her teeth almost looked sharp. “Well?”

“I’m not h-here to buy anything,” Odin replied steadily, shoving his hands in his pockets and squaring his shoulders.

“Then why are you here,  _boy_?” she sat up, setting her pipe down and snapping her book shut.

“Your daughter. Ava Ire.” He felt Maggie behind him, nearing a little closer. “I th-thought she came here.”

“She was in here earlier, to discuss a few things with me. However, I am unbiased when it comes to her own affairs, so she left shortly after.” Wrathia leaned over and picked up what appeared to be a list, and started jotting a few things down. “It appears you just missed her.”

Odin nodded slowly, taking a step back. This woman was lethal, and he did  _not_ want to be in a room with her any longer than needed.

“Wait a minute, boy.” He stopped. “Ava… I’m curious.”

Wrathia stood and circled around the teens, standing by a weapons display. It held mostly military grade machetes, but they were zip-locked to the stand. That only made Odin feel a little better as Wrathia ginned at him openly.

“Has my daughter had any of those  _fits_  lately?” Her voice dripped with cruelty.

Maggie, who hadn’t said a word, finally spoke. To her credit, her voice didn’t waver. “No, she hasn’t.”

Wrathia’s smile dimmed, but didn’t drop. “Pity. Here I thought I had finally made that child useful.”

Maggie was wringing the strap of her purse in her hands, but her arms when taut at the veteran’s comment. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“Ava was a useless child. I thought that by teaching her some basic skills, she might come to some use someday, but it seems not even my subtle lessons can help her.” Wrathia sent behind a counter and began writing a few more things in her list.

“Lessons…?” Maggie’s eyes dawned with realization. “The bruise on Ava’s face – you’ve been hurting her!”

Odin spun around with a newfound expression on his face – shock riddled with anger as his hands clenched into fists. “What?”

Wrathia looked unintimidated. “I’m surprised you hadn’t realized sooner, Maggie. Especially since one of Ava’s worst fits was at your expense, wasn’t it?” Maggie’s face flushed, and she gripped her purse strap so tightly her hands began to ache. “You don’t really think Ava would attack someone without some sort of pressure, do you? The girl can barely defend herself in the first place, much less start a fight.”

Odin stepped between them, as Maggie looked ready to start a fight and he knew for a fact Wrathia would be the one to end it. “S-So these fits Ava used to h-have at school, where she-she’d just start attacking someone for no reason… that’s b-because you were tr-trying to  _condition_  her?” The shop-owner looked indifferent. “Condition a  _child_  to  _fight_?”

“It was for her own good.” Wrathia tapped her long fingernails on the counter, and she seemed to prickle. “And I think you’ve all outstayed your welcome. I told you what became of Ava – now leave.”

Odin spun around, prodding Maggie towards the front door.

“Not even going to thank me, boy?”

“Not on your life,” he replied without a second thought, and he gladly left the shop before the woman could blast his brains out with a shogun or something.

It was almost sunset, and they hadn’t found Ava.

Odin swore under his breath, and his fingers automatically curled around a small, pointy object in his pocket. Ava’s locket had come with a key, but it was sort of pointy and kind of ugly – he had kept it and just given the lock to her, but now he found himself grasping the object when he thought about her.

Maggie was silent, and she looked like she’d just been struck. “Ava wasn’t lying.” Her voice trembled. “Ava wasn’t crazy at all, and…”

Everything seemed to fall into place. How could they have not noticed before?

_“You would know… if your brother didn’t love you.”_

_The dark bruise across her face._

_“I know you already think I’m crazy… and I don’t blame you.”_

_Ava flinching back as Odin’s fingers brushed her shoulder._

_Gil’s face, enraged. “This is where she goes to escape!”_

“We need to find Ava,” Odin blurted, and just as he turned to tell Maggie to harass her sources – text her friends, blackmail her exes, whatever it took – he spotted Gil walking back towards Nevy’s.

Without Ava.

Odin nearly got himself run over as he sprinted across the street, and one of his hands clamped onto Gil’s shoulder suddenly enough to make the student-teacher yelp. “Wh-Where’s Ava?!” Odin demanded as Maggie crossed the street without traffic.

After gathering himself, Gil responded coolly “Looking to apologize? Ava and I were talking about a few things, and right now she’s talking to the Administrator of TITAN University I called for a few days ago.”

“TITAN?” Odin questioned. According to his brother, a TITAN drop-out, the college had been a little suspicious. They were pro’s, but they were rough on their students, and had some under-the-counter dealings going on that made even the Arrows apprehensive. “Wh-Why?”

“I’ll be vouching for her. After I sponsor her, and with her upstanding grades, Ava will be attending the University with me next semester.” Gil shook his arm loose from Odin’s grip, and seemed to be putting up a good front of being angry, but it melted as he said quietly “Ava will be staying with me and Nevy for a few nights. If you want to talk to her tomorrow, you can… drop by.” With those last words, Gil ducked into his mother’s shop, and Odin hadn’t the strength to follow him.

“Ava will be going to College with Gil next year?” Maggie squeaked, her eyes wide and shoulders stiff. That was her plan – to go with Gil. He was supposed to sponsor her, even if she would graduate a year later than Ava.

Odin’s mind had spun into white noise. He honestly liked Ava, both as a friend and as a crush – and for the first time he could remember, he felt guilt for not noticing her pain. He was so busy complaining about what he got to do everyday that he didn’t realize the confines she was in.

And now, she would be leaving to TITAN University.

His hand gripped the key in his pocket tightly.

OOO

“So,” Strategos Six started, velvet tones as they straightened Ava’s file folder “you want to attend TITAN University?”

Ava cleared her throat and nodded, replying quietly. “I’m… considering it, yes.”

Six turned in their rolling chair, pulling out a small pamphlet from one of their filing cabinets. “These are the courses we provide – I understand the Student sponsoring you is studying medical sciences?”

“Yes, Gil wants to be a doctor.”

Six made a small humming noise, a little muffled by their medical mask. Earlier, they had insisted it was because they were sick, but Ava suspected it was because they didn’t want to get sick. “And what do you want to do, Miss Ire?”

She swallowed hard, holding the pamphlet in her hands. “If we’re being honest, I… I don’t know.”

“That’s a good place to start.” They opened up her folder and looked it over. “You’ve got high grades in Mathematics and English, and it appears you have a few credits in art courses. You seem more artistically inclined, and we don’t carry too many courses in that area.”

Ava didn’t respond.

They studied her face for a moment, before shutting her file. “Perhaps it would be in your favor to wait, going to college. I understand your grades are sufficient to graduate this year, but it seems you need more time to figure yourself out.”

“You don’t think TITAN’s would let me in, don’t you?” Ava asked morosely, already hunching over a little.

“I didn’t say that. In fact, I have a bit of a proposal for you.” Six stood up and pulled a stapled packet out of a niche in the wall, also sorted with the mail and other documents. “TITAN could certainly help you – and I don’t plan on letting you walk away that easily.” They handed the stack to Ava, and she skimmed it over.

“You’re…” Her face tightened in confusion. “You’re offering me a job?”

Strategos sat back down, interlocking their white gloved fingers. “I need someone who can handle complex math without a calculator, and is mature enough to handle themselves. You’d be a secretary of sorts.”

“I was planning on leaving with Gil for the TITAN University a state over, though…” she pondered aloud, looking over the application. Graduation was coming soon, too. She had a lot on her mind.

“Looking to get out of town? Don’t let that wanderlust guide you.” They rolled their shoulders a little in a half-shrug. “TITAN won’t be leaving anywhere, there’s no reason to rush. And I think you’ll find we’re very accepting, especially of more mature students like yourself.”

Ava stacked the paper’s up in her arms. “I guess I’ll have to think it over.”

“Of course,” Strategos replied smoothly, hastily getting out of their seat. “Let me walk you to the door.”

As they walked, Ava thanked them. “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Strategos.”

“Oh please,” they stopped her, a hand lingering over her shoulder “Call me Six.”

“Six,” she repeated, feeling unnerved. “I’ll see you.”

As she walked away, clutching her papers and walking down the sidewalk to downtown, she heard Six mutter under their breath “I’m sure you will.”

OOO

“They offered you a job?” Gil questioned as he set up blankets on his couch. Ava nodded, almost somber. “Well that is certainly unexpected. But leave it to TITAN to find a solution, right?”

Ava felt a little weird about Gil’s reverence involving TITAN, but she wasn’t going to insult him on the matter. So she stayed silent and simply looked over his house.

It was Nevy’s home, but since Gil had been working as a student teacher in the area, he was staying here. Ava would be taking the couch for a few days, while Wrathia cooled down – and the entire place smelled like fresh plants.

There was a knock on the door, and Gil muttered “I wonder who on earth that could be…”

Ava sat on the couch, the fluffy blue blankets underneath her shifting. Gil’s house didn’t smell like smoke, and it was a change from her usual setting.

“I don’t know if she wants to see anyone right now,” she heard Gil speaking to the open door.

“It’ll just be for a minute.”

Ava leaned over on the couch, recognizing the voice. There was a twist in her brow as she asked aloud “Maggie?” and the teen waved at her, almost bashfully. “Gil, its fine, let her in.”

Maggie stepped in and made a hairpin turn around the couch to sit on the far side. She was kneading her hands together, and glanced up to Gil, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “Can I have a minute with Ava alone, please?”

Gil looked between them, before sighing a little and going upstairs to his room.

Maggie looked down at her lap, and patted her knees a little. “Uhm… I talked to you mom earlier today.”

Ava gave her a stern stare. “Why? I mean – why?”

“Odin and I were trying to find you,” she admitted quietly. “To apologize for being rude, and we thought we would find you there, and…” The teen sucked in a breath and seemed to be preparing herself. “I found out about what Wrathia does. Her lessons, or whatever.”

Ava’s muscles went taut, and her throat seemed to tighten as her voice went hoarse. “Yeah. What about it?”

“I’m…” Maggie purposely looked away from Ava, toward the window framing the bed. The curtains were open, and she could see the night sky, the stars blotted out by gathering grey clouds. “You’re not crazy,” she finally declared, opting to say that instead of her original apology. “And your mom is insane.”

They were both silent, both processing the new information.

“I’m sorry,” Ava stated quietly, her voice carrying like an uncertain leaf in a cold breeze. Maggie jerked back to look at her, startled. “For that time when we were kids. I know it hurt you a lot – but I couldn’t even bring myself to talk to you.” Ava pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her forehead on the backs of her knees. “I was afraid I would freak out again, and end up hurting you. I’m so sorry.”

Ava was pulled aside as Maggie hugged her with one arm. “Water under the bridge, egghead. I haven’t exactly been helping this at all either.” Maggie couldn’t quite wrench the apology from her mouth, but she managed to say “We should be friends again.”

The redhead swallowed hard as her throat felt gummy. She wiped her eyes furiously as to hide her tears as her voice trembled. “Y-Yeah,” she agreed, hiccupping a little. “Let’s be friends again…”

Gil watched the girls from the top of the stairs, smiling fondly. Nevy was behind him, bobbing a little in excitement.

Ava finally steadied herself enough to stop crying, and she let out a little sigh as she looked back to Maggie. With one arm sill around Ava, she had wrenched out her phone checked the time. “I should get home,” Maggie muttered.

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” Ava agreed. The redhead walked her to the door, and they waved at each other as Maggie set on the sidewalk to her house.

Ava leaned on the doorframe for a moment.

Things were finally looking up.

Now if only she could talk to Odin again…

OOO

Odin knocked on the door, hard. His knuckles ached from the force of it.

She opened the door, her lips pulling back into a sneer.

“What is it now, boy?”

His jaw was set hard, eyes narrowed. “We n-need to talk.”

“I don’t spend my nights discussing life with some highschool brats,” Wrathia replied sharply, starting to swing the door shut. Odin stuck his leg in the door, and he winced as it slammed into his thigh.

“We n-need to talk,” he reiterated “ _now_.”

Wrathia opened the door and leaned against the frame. “What exactly gives you the right to sit here and make demands of me in my own home?”

“Th-The fact that you treat your daughter l-like garbage.”

She scowled. “And?”

He pointed a finger at her pretty, scornful face. “And I w-want to know why you ad-adopted her in the first place if all you’re going to d-do is  _abuse_  her.”

The word hit a nerve with Wrathia, and she smacked Odin’s hand out of the air. “ _For your information_ , I didn’t have a say in the matter. When her parents died, I was a family friend, and for some unfathomable reason they put me as her Godmother.”

Odin gestured to the air, looking at the Veteran like she was some sort of unsolvable Picasso painting, looking at her from his peripherals and sort of gawking. “So b-because she wa p-put in your care, that g-gives you the reason to completely r-ruin her life? Th-That’s not even her fault! Wh-What’s your damage, d-did you get a head injury in th-that War, or-”

Wrathia slugged him in the jaw, hard. Odin was knocked off his feet, and he hit the ground, nursing his face. “That should teach you to stick your nose in other people’s business,” she snorted, flexing her fingers.

“Y-you just don’t want to admit th-that I’m right,” Odin persisted, his pride keeping his tongue from keeping still. “Hah, and they s-say Ava’s the crazy one.”

Wrathia spun around, her eyes flashing fiercely and her hands splayed out like talons.

Odin braced himself.

OOO

Ava blinked, her eyelids sluggishly trying to move. Where was she? Gil’s house, right. She stretched a little. Considering she couldn’t see sunlight through her eyelids, she supposed that she must have woken up in the night. What woke her up?

She heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof, and the distant clap of thunder. Did the rain wake her?

There was a persistent tapping on the window. Maybe the wind was blowing a tree-branch, and that woke her.

“H-Hey Ava?”

Her eyes snapped open. That wasn’t the rain.

She sat up and turned to the window. Although it was streaked with wet droplets, the thunder clapped and lightening flashed. She could see the figure of someone standing in front of the window. Ava leaned over and flicked the nearby lamp on.

She stared in awe. “Odin? What are you doing out there?” She stood up and went to the door, unlocking it and opening it cautiously. He had followed her to the door, and he stood on the front steps, holding his arms tightly around himself. His hair was flat against his head, and his skin seemed almost waxy it was so pale. “You’re soaked! What are you-”

She spotted flash of red, and taking a closer look, he had a bleeding gash along his nose, and a nasty bruise forming under his jaw. He head a scrape along his forehead, and various other wounds she didn’t bother to catalogue.

Ava opened the door and brought him in. “What happened? Just a moment, take that off-” she pulled his leather jacket off “-wait here.” Ava rushed into Gil’s bathroom and brought out a few towels, and she unfolded one and started drying Odin off with it.

He was staring at her intensely as she dried his hair, indigo eyes boring into her skin. She felt her cheeks blush at the attention. “What happened, Odin?”

He barked a laugh. “D-Do I really look that bad?”

Without his jacket, she could see his bare arms. Even there, bruises were beginning to darken around his elbows and joints.

“Kinda,” she replied, leaving the towel on his head and fishing out one of Gil’s first aid kits. She set it aside and made Odin sit.

“I’m g-gonna make the couch wet,” he warned, scooting a little.

“You honestly think I’m worried about my bedding? Your face looks like you just tried to head-butt a buzz-saw, what happened?”

Odin was quiet for a moment as Ava began dabbing some antiseptic cream on the ridge of his nose, before pulling out a bandage.

“I s-said some stuff earlier,” he started quietly, and Ava ceased patching up his face for a moment. His head was dipped down as he spoke, as though guilt was set heavy enough on his shoulders to show physically. “And I d-didn’t think about it, and h-how it might’ve been hurting you.”

He set his hand on hers. Her heart lurched into her throat.

“I’m s-sorry, Ava.” The words sounded like they were foreign to him, and rough to say. He looked up to her in anticipation of something, but she couldn’t guess what.

“No, it’s – I overreacted,” she replied gently, looking at her knees. His hand squeezed hers, and she looked back up at him.

“You’re t-too nice,” Odin stated with a hopeless smile on his face. “I j-just appear here in the n-night like some boogieman and y-you don’t even spare a s-second thought about helping me.” He reached out and brushed a lock of hair from her face, hesitantly. “You… You’re selfless.”

Ava swallowed hard, her face burning and her heart screaming in her ears. “Uhm… th-thank you, Odin…” She shifted in her seat a little, and her locket bobbed against her shirt.

He blinked in surprise. “Y-You kept it? Th-The locket?”

She tugged on the slim gold chain. “Of course I did – why?”

“I th-thought you’d throw it away or s-something. I was a r-real piece of work back there.” He stared at it against her collar with a small, quiet smile.

She cleared her throat. “You still haven’t told me why you’re all beat up.”

He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. “I d-don’t know how you do it,” he replied with a bitter scowl. “I c-could barely take s-sixteen minutes with you mom, much l-less sixteen y-years.”

Ava’s jaw went slack as her eyebrows shot into her bangs, eyes going wide. “You got in a fight with Wrathia?”

“It w-was more like she b-beat my ass and I k-kept goading her about it,” he contradicted.

“What in the world possessed you to do that?” Ava planted her hands on his knees and leaned into his face, almost yelling. “Odin, she could have killed you, and gotten away with it! She could have – she might’ve-”

Odin put a finger over her lips. “B-But, she didn’t.”

Ava glared at him and pushed his hand away, but she lowered her voice. “Why did you do that, Odin?”

He opened and closed his hands, pawing at the air as he tried to grasp his words. “Hell, I d-don’t know. I j-just wanted to know wh-why she would treat s-someone as g-great as you so horribly. I th-thought if I confronted her about it, th-then – I don’t kn-know, maybe I could change things.”

“I’m not all that great,” Ava whispered at his dejected expression.

His head snapped around, and he grabbed her shoulders. “D-Don’t ever say that again,” he nearly shouted. “Y-You’re worth more a m-million times more than that psychotic witch, and d-don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

Odin had his hands on her shoulders, and Ava winced at the contact. He pulled back, confusion on his features, before the realization dawned on him.

“S-Sorry,” he apologized again.

“No, its fine,” she replied. “Thank you for… for telling me that.” Ava mostly ignored the sharpness in her shoulders for Odin’s sweet words. “Do you honestly think that?”

“I w-wouldn’t have gotten into a f-fistfight with the old goat if I d-didn’t,” he replied quietly, a violet blush spreading across his cheeks.

Ava pulled her knees back up to her chest resting her chin on the tops of her knees and staring at Odin. As he stared in front of himself, she noticed he had a handsome profile. And they were sitting close enough that she could smell his cologne.

He poked at her locket with another blush spreading across her cheeks. “Um… Was there any other reason you came by? I mean, it is really late…”

His face dawned with realization. “Oh y-yeah,” he muttered, getting up and fetching his jacket. He pulled it off the chair before flopping down on the couch next to Ava again. From the inner seams, he carefully extracted a folded cardstock paper. He unfolded it and handed it to her.

She skimmed over it. “Your grades?”

“Th-Thanks to your patient tutoring, I managed to pass Math. I c-can get into a competent college now, b-because of you. I g-got so excited that I came s-straight over here after g-going home, and c-completely forgot about p-patching up my face.” He smiled at her, with his silly lopsided grin and bandaged face. “Th-Thank you.”

She looked back down to the report card, attempting to hide her fluster. “Ah – um – yes. I mean, you’re welcome.”

They were both silent for a moment. Odin leaned over and took the report card out of Ava’s hands and re-folded it, slipping it back into his coat. He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

“I g-guess… I sh-should head back home. It’s p-pretty late, and I shouldn’t have w-woken you up.”

“No – I’d rather hear from you, and it’s exciting, right?” She beamed up at him, smiling openly, and he seemed to puff up a little his arms going taut and his shoulders stiffening. “Odin?”

“N-Nothing,” he looked away as his blush deepened at her smile. “I’ll b-be going to the S.V. College over in the city,” he decided to change the topic of conversation “and I h-heard you were going to TITAN’s, right?”

She deflated, eyes narrowing as she looked back to her knees. “Maybe… I don’t know yet.”

He nodded, looking back to the window. “Well, I sh-should – I should get g-going.”

“Yeah,” Ava agreed, her attitude somewhat dampened by her college predicament.

Odin slipped his jacket on and headed for the door, trying to sound discreet as Ava turned the lamp back off. He stood in the doorway for a moment, the rain still pouring. As he put his hands in his pockets, he blinked, and pulled something out.

“Oh – here. Th-This is for you.”

In the dim lighting, Ava had to hold the item up to her face to see it, but it dawned on her soon after. It was a little key, one matching her locket. “Oh, this goes to this,” she stated aloud, tapping them together.

“I th-thought it was s-sort of pointy and creepy, so I kept it b-behind. But I th-think it should go with the locket. Th-They’re supposed to be together.” Ava smiled, fitting the key into the keyhole. “S-Sort of how I think about us.”

She blinked and snapped her head up to look at Odin. His head was ducked in his collar, and he had to talk loudly against the rain. “I w-was hoping, m-maybe sometime… even th-though we’ll be graduating s-soon, maybe – do you w-want to go out with me?” He blurted the last part, and his face erupted in lavender and violet hues.

Ava blinked owlishly at him in surprise. “Of course!” she blurted back, before feeling foolish and following it up with “I mean, y-yeah, I’d love to.”

Odin looked genuinely shocked, until he announced. “W-Well, uh, that’s great! D-Do you want to meet up tomorrow, like at th-the café or something?”

He was stalling. Ava rolled her eyes and went on the tips of her toes, pecking a tiny kiss on his bruised cheek. “It’s a date,” she promised with a bashful smile. “Now go get home. Goodnight.”

As she stepped inside and closed the door, she heard him stutter “I – y-yeah, ‘night!”

Ava laid on the couch and sat back up almost instantly. Odin was right – he did soak the couch.

OOO

Gil cocked an eyebrow as Ava pulled her spare set of clothes out of her school-bag. “So you’re going out to talk to Odin?”

She nodded, pulling out her hairbrush and going over her red-locks. “Yeah, we’ll be meeting at the café.”

“Oh,” Gil smiled as he set the newspaper he was looking over down. “I’m meeting Maggie over there later too. She said she wanted to show me something important.”

Ava felt a smile tug at her cheeks. Maggie had probably gotten her report card too, and was planning on showing it off to Gil.

Gil actually offered to walk Ava over to the café, and as they made their way across the sidewalk, they spotted Maggie and Odin bickering next to the shop.

“I passed English with flying colors, you smoking creep, don’t think you got better grades then me!”

“S-Says the girl who passed M-Math by the skin of her teeth.”

“Oh do you wanna fight, ugly?”

“Oh p-please, you couldn’t do anything more to this face.”

Ava and Gil stepped up with equally perturbed expressions. Gil asked aloud “What seems to be going on here, you two?”

Odin regarded Gil with a placid glance as Maggie stuttered “Well – you see – here.” She handed her report card over to the stdent teacher. “I passed English and Math, because you tutored me, and I wanted to thank you.”

Gil smiled with white teeth at the girl. “Of course, Maggie, it’s what a tutor is supposed to do! Now you’ve got enough credits to enroll in a good College. Have you got any in mind?”

“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” she responded with a wilted expression. “Originally, I wanted to have you vouch for me at TITAN’s, but I don’t think that’s the place for me.”

“Really? Maggie, why didn’t you tell me, I could have set up an appointment between you and Strategos.”

She leaned back against the nearby wall. “Well, I was looking it over, and TITAN’s is actually really mathematically based… it’s more about technical stuff, and I was looking into the Fine Arts, like acting and Drama.”

Gil’s eyebrows furrowed. “Oh.”

Ava spoke up then, as Maggie looked nervous. “TITAN’s isn’t for everybody, Gil. I still haven’t decided about whether I want to enroll there or not.”

His glance turned hard, and his voice was sharp. “What? After I vouched for you?”

Ava backed up at his tone. “Well I was talking to Six, and they told me what Maggie told you – it’s a college for technical sciences, not art or literature.”

Odin nodded a little. “Sh-She’s right. My older b-brother Olai went to TITAN’s for a bit, but he w-was flunked because he didn’t follow p-protocol exactly.”

Gil looked upset as he fiddled with his bag. “What, so now no one wants to go to TITANs? I thought we had a plan set up, Ava.”

She swallowed hard and nodded, her hands going clammy. “Well we do, but I-”

“-Look, just get back to me once you’ve made up your mind,” Gil snapped, turning around and heading back for Nevy’s house.

The three students looked between each-other. “That could’ve gone better,” Maggie stated sadly, rubbing her face with a sigh. After a moment, she looked between Odin and Ava. “Actually, what are you two doing here?”

Both their faces brightened with a blush as they looked away.

“You’re kidding me. You two are on a date?”

They both started talking at once, and Maggie put a hand up. “you know what, you two have fun with that. I’m gonna go track Gil down and see if I can’t cool him down. I’ll see you later, Ava?”

Ava nodded happily, a bowstring smile pulling up rosy cheeks. They waved as Maggie stepped off to talk to Gil.

“So,” Odin began, looking down at his date “d-did you want to do anything p-particular?”

OOO

Gil continued pacing furiously, venting to Nevy.

“And then she tells me that she might not want to go to TITAN’s! Can you think of a more fickle thing to say? One minute, she’s all for it, having a meeting with the administrator and even getting a job offer, but now she seems almost against it!” He sat down in a huff, folding his arms and drumming his fingers along his arms. “I don’t understand what her problem is.”

Nevy shook her head hopelessly. “Gil, not everyone is as devoted as you. And the girl’s having to find a new home as well as a college, what with her mother and all.”

He glanced over to Nevy, his fury ebbing some. “Maybe that’s so, but you’d think she’d jump on the offer as soon as it was given to her, because of her mother.”

“Ava probably doesn’t want to make any rash choices,” Nevy, suggested with a shrug. “She’s taking her time, and being patient. That’s something you should appreciate, Gil.”

He grumbled a little under his breath. Even if he was wrong, TITAN was one of the finest Universities on the planet – what could Ava be so worried about?

The door flung open as Maggie stepped in, not even bothering to knock. “Gil, we gotta talk – oh, hi Nevy.” The emerald haired girl side-stepped past the counter and stood across from Gil “Ok, what’s your big beef with Ava and I not wanting to go to TITANs?”

Gil gave her an incredulous look before speaking. “It’s one of  _the_  best Universities out there, and to deny that is just – it’s blasphemy.”

“Ok, I have to ask,” Maggie put a hand up “what’s the cost?”

He blinked. “What?”

“College tuition, dorm rent, stuff like that. What’s the cost?”

“Oh.” He thought back to it. “I got a scholarship, but I don’t think it has to be that high…”

Maggie gave him a sour look, glancing over to Nevy and back to Gil. “Ok, well, that’s sort of a big thing for me and Ava. I mean, we can both get scholarships, but probably not ones as pretty as yours, Gil. We have to think about these things.”

Gil didn’t look convinced.

“We have to schedule these things.” Getting her reference to his earlier argument with Odin, he finally smiled, though it was tight.

“I see your points now, but still. I put a lot of effort in for Ava, and-”

“And I’m sure she appreciates it, the girl will thank you for handing classwork back. Ava isn’t one to gloss over the efforts of others, if her tutoring Odin means anything.”

Gil finally relented.

“Fine, fine. So maybe TITAN isn’t for her, but where will she go?”

Maggie shrugged, but she began to look worried. “I don’t know, Gil. I don’t know.”

OOO

“You’re pretty good at these arcade games,” Ava noted as Odin fired another popgun. The stacked bottles fell, and he looked smug about it too. They began wandering back to the front of the arcade, passing younger kids on more childish games and spotting a few wary parents.

“H-Hey Ava.” She stopped and looked up to her stark-haired companion. “I kn-know you’re still th-thinking things over, about college, and about TITANs, but…” he scratched the back of his neck. “Wh-What about S.V.’s college, th-the one I’m going to?”

She looked tense. “Odin…”

“I’m n-not saying that you h-have to go, but maybe look into it? It’s ch-cheap, and has some art courses, and…” He trailed off. “N-Never-mind, it was just a th-thought. Did you w-want to get something to eat?”

She nodded, and they both ate their food in silence for a few moments. Odin felt stupid telling her about S.V’s like he did, like some clingy boyfriend. Ava felt conflicted about decisions she was having to make.

She checked the time on her wristwatch. “Oh geez, I should be getting back to Nevy’s and talking to Gil soon…”

Odin looked a little put out, until she tugged on his sleeve from across the table. “Hey, this was fun, alright? We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

He studied her face for a moment, before nodding resolutely. “Y-Yeah, we should.” They both stood, and Ava once again pecked a small kiss on Odin’s cheek. His face dusted with a violet blush.

“I’ll see you later,” she bid goodbye, her own face burning, and she started walking back to Gil’s house.

Odin watched her walk away, her great scarlet hair swinging with her movements. He ran his hand over his cheek and chuckled goofily to himself.

As Ava kept walking, she passed by her house. Wrathia would probably be in the store, and if she was going to be staying at Gil’s for a few more days, she would need a change of clothes.

Ava unlocked the door and stepped inside.

“I was wondering when you’d skitter back over here.” Ava froze, smelling the cinders in the air. “Where’ve you been? Off at late night parties, getting drunk?”

“I was at a friend’s,” she replied slowly, turning around to face Wrathia. The woman exhaled, and the smoke gathered around her like a dark halo.

“And you didn’t even inform me.”

“Would you have cared?” The cold bite in Ava’s tone made both of them jump a little, and Wrathia smiled wryly at her.

“It seems being out on the town has given you the impression that you’re allowed to talk back to me.” She stood and emptied her pipe, meandering down the hall until she was face to face with Ava. “How about we  _fix_  that.”

In that moment, Wrathia’s hand lifted in the air, preparing to descend upon the girl.

_“Y-You’re worth more a m-million times more than that psychotic witch, and d-don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”_

_“You’re not crazy – your mom’s insane.”_

For the first time, Ava caught her hand and pushed it aside. “Don’t put your hands on me,” she snarled at her adoptive mother, and Wrathia was honestly startled by her ferocity.

“You’re finally growing a backbone,” Wrathia reached out to grab her arm. Fueled by her own rebelling, Ava yanked her arm out of her Godmother’s grip and shoved past her, off to the other side of the table.

“I told you not to touch me,” she replied darkly.

Wrathia looked amused, but also a little shaken. “It looks like my training is finally paying off. You’re becoming someone of use, at last.”

“Don’t take credit for me,” Ava barked angrily, the floodgates of her fury bursting. “Don’t you  _dare_  take credit for me. This is isn’t you, you didn’t help make me the person I am. You left me alone.”

“It was a lesson in character,” Wrathia insisted with a bitter twist to her mouth “in independence. Just as my other lessons have taught you to be stronger.”

Ava picked up the nearest thing – a coffee mug – and threw it at her. “No it wasn’t! It was just you – you being cruel! It was cruel and it was wrong!”

She dodged the mug and it shattered against the wall, looking astonished and angry. “ _This_  is the payment I get for putting a roof above your head, and clothes on your back?”

“You’re not supposed to get repaid for raising me,” Ava bellowed, her hands in tight fists “I’m supposed to eat your food and wear your clothes! I’m supposed to be your kid! It’s not my fault I needed raising!”

Suddenly, it clicked with Ava.

“It’s not my fault.” She looked at Wrathia with a new-found realization. “This – none of this – it isn’t my fault. You, how you treat me, what’s happened to me.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Her godmother hissed.

Ava stepped forward, pointing a finger at Wrathia. “You don’t own me. I’m not yours, not anymore.”Ava scooped up her mail that was on the table, shoving it into her purse. She stomped upstairs and began throwing what little she had into a duffel bag she had hidden under her bed. Wrathia followed her.

“What are you doing?” Wrathia demanded.

“I’m leaving.” Ava glared at her. “Just like you’ve always wanted.”

“You won’t survive a day out there.” Her godmother was more afraid than she was.

“That’s my fate to decide.”

As Wrathia went back downstairs, swearing a rainbow of obscenities, Ava looked at the mail she shoved into her purse. One letter in particular stood out.

OOO

Gil looked back at Odin and Maggie, who prodded him forward.

Ava hadn’t come back to Gil’s that night.

He knocked on the door, and Wrathia Bellarmina flung it open. “What do you creatures  _want_?” she snarled in a deep, harsh tone.

“It’s about your daughter? We hadn’t heard from her-”

“She left,” Wrathia interrupted, starting to close the door. “She took her things and left. If you want to find her, I suspect she’s hitchhiking on some long and lonely road in the middle of nowhere.” She had almost shut the door completely when she barked “Don’t come around here asking for that brat again.”

The door slammed, and they all stood in a daze.

Maggie muttered “No way, Ava wouldn’t just… run off.”

Odin couldn’t wrap his head around the concept. Just earlier, they had been having a really great date. They had even promised to see the other again.

Gil spun on his heel and pulled his cellphone out.

“Who’re you calling?” Maggie questioned, and Gil responded “The one person I know keeps tabs on everyone.”

There was a dial tone, before a cool voice responded “ _Strategos Six here, can I help you with anything?_ ”

OOO

OOO

“Thanks for the tour, Renunculae,” Ava turned and smiled at the girl. She counted herself lucky that someone she knew from her highschool was here.

“Anytime, Ava. Now my dorm is just next door if you need anything, and Tuls is always willing to help.”

Ava nodded and pulled out her keys, fiddling with the doorknob.

At her wits end, Ava had called up Six about the Colossus College in the city, as she had gotten a letter from them in the mail, and explaining her situation, Six came to a compromise – they could pull some strings, and she could enroll there, and set her dorm up early. Six had been surprisingly helpful, but the smug tone in their voice made them think that they weren’t done with trying to convince her to be their secretary just yet.

Ava’s eyes flung open when she realized the door wasn’t locked. She flung it open, panic in her throat, and she froze in place.

Maggie turned around. “Well, look who finally decided to show up.”

Odin was fiddling with the light-switch. “I h-hope you don’t mind. Y-You were late, so w-we started decorating w-without you.”

As the lights adjusted, Ava could see garlands of flowers handing around the walls, and other celebratory things. Gil waved at her from the bunk-bed.

“What…” Her voice cracked. “What are all of you doing here?”

Gil smiled. “Do you think we were just going to let you leave?” He wrenched himself off the bed. “Honestly Ava, you didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I didn’t want to cause any more trouble than I already did,” she admitted aloud, feeling somewhat lightheaded. Odin took her shoulder and led her to sit on the bed.

“W-Well, that was a dumb thing to th-think.” He rapped the top of her head slightly with his knuckles, and that brought her out of her stupor.

“But – how did you even  _find_  me?”

Maggie pointed to Gil, who rubbed the back of his head.

Ava groaned and leaned down, burying her face in her lap. “I left without saying goodbye so I wouldn’t have to eventually… you’re all gonna be leaving, and I’ll be alone again.” This was a conversation she had run away to avoid. “Now, I’ll  _have_  to say goodbye.”

“Wh-Who said we were leaving?” Odin sounded a little arrogant, which led Ava to feel suspicious.

She sat up. “Uh? You’ll be going to S.V’s, Gils is going to TITAN’s-”

“Actually, I recently transferred.” Ava spun around to look at Gil. “After talking to Maggie, I decided to check a few things. The tuition fees at TITAN’s would have buried me in a hole, and the medical courses here at Colossus are more lenient.”

Odin leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Th-The art courses here are pretty good too, c-considering Tenebrose is enrolling.”

Maggie waggled a finger. “And just like you took college courses with Gil this year and graduated early, I’ll be taking my early courses here too. Did you know their stage is like, ten times bigger than ours? You have to check it out.”

Ava looked between all of them. “You changed… You changed your colleges for me? Your  _futures_?”

“Of course not egghead,” Maggie contradicted “we all just happened to enroll in the same place that we knew you were going.”

Ava put her face in her hands. This was too much.

Gil nudged Maggie. “Ah, Maggie, I think we should go and get the rest of Ava’s things.” They stepped out, and Ava was left sitting alone with Odin.

“D-Did you really th-think you could run from m-me?” She didn’t answer, and he carefully pulled her hands back from her face. She looked up at him with watery eyes, trying not to cry. “P-Please don’t cry,” he asked softly, putting a hand on her cheek.

“But – But you and – you and Maggie and Gil, you all-” he pulled her into his arms, and she clung to the front of his shirt.

“W-We didn’t do th-this out of pity, Ava. We-re h-here because we care about you.” She looked up at him. “ _I_  c-care about you.”

She trembled at his words. “I do too,” she replied softly. “But what if this doesn’t work out?” She buried her face back in his shirt. “Us, I mean. What if you came here for nothing?”

“I’m n-not a complete m-moron,” he drawled with a slight chuckle. “I am h-honestly here f-for the art programs – and s-so are you. It j-just worked out that way.”

Ava was quiet, pressed into his chest. He could feel her breathing against him.

“B-Besides, I still think w-we’re like you l-locket and key. We sh-shouldn’t be apart.” He could almost feel her getting flustered at his words.

They sat in a comfortable silence as Ava ceased her trembling and got ahold of her emotional bearings again. She wasn’t used to people caring about her so much.

“H-Hey Ava?”

“Hnm?”

“Th-Thanks for tutoring me.”

She laughed as the door opened and Gil pulled Ava’s bag in, and Maggie dropped her purse on her bed. As they all began chatting, Maggie already criticizing the importance of good décor, Ava looked out the window.

All the clouds had finally cleared up.


	33. roommates AU again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, I wrote this for a friend

The hum of the fridge filled up the silence that Odin had tried to immerse himself in. His eyes throbbed from lack of sleep and hunger tugged at his gut, but he ignored both. He tapped his pencil against his lip as he pondered how he should fill the next commission, when the door handle clicked.

He inclined his head as the door was slowly pushed open with Ava’s knee, her arms preoccupied with plastic bags. He set his sketchbook on the nearby coffee-table and weaved around the couch to help her with what she was holding.

“N-Need some help?” he asked with a quirked brow as he pulled the door open the rest of the way, and Ava nodded as she stepped through the threshold of the door. Odin closed the door and pushed some of the dirty dishes on the counter aside for her to set the bags. “G-Groceries?” he asked at the noise of saran wrap rubbing against plastic.

Ava nodded again, pulling out actual  _food_  - wrapped meat, vegetables, and other such desirables. Odin ignored the sharp tug his stomach had at the thought of food with a flavor.

“Wh-What’s the occasion?” he tried to ask nonchalantly while Ava kneeled down and started organizing the fridge.

She was quiet for a moment, lips pursed, and it occurred to him she hadn’t said a word since she stepped in. Ava glanced his direction, bright eyes flicking over him before she muttered “nothing much…” and continued putting the food away.

He leaned on the open door and furrowed his brow. “Wh-What’s wrong?”

She shoved the meat onto the second shelf and pulled the vegetables into the bottom drawer. “Nothin’,” she responded mutely, and she stood, closing the door while Odin was still leaning on it. He jerked so he wouldn’t fall over, and gave her a look.

“O- _Obviously_ , nothing’s wrong.” She started putting cans away. “Wh-Where did you even g-get the money to buy this?”

“Favor from a  _friend_ ,” she replied, not making eye contact. A lie – he could read her like a book – and for the moment, he supposed an unimportant one. But she was cranky for some reason, and Ava Ire was not one to anger.

He shrugged and made his way back to the couch, where he threw himself onto the flat cushions and tried to focus on his sketches.

Ava shuffled quietly into her room and was careful not to make much noise as she shut her door. He watched the closed door curiously, before deciding to get his commission’s done.

However, Ava’s temper had dampened his peaceful mood from earlier, and he was finding hard to put pencil to paper. What was her problem? It wasn’t like her to get upset about trivial things, so it had to be pretty big. Unless she just had a bad day and he was blowing things out of proportion.

Her door clicked, and he turned. She was wearing a large coat as she shuffled past him to the door.

“Wh-Where are you going?” he questioned, curious and concerned.

“Out,” she replied breathily, and she closed the front door behind her.

He stared at the dull white of the door before muttering “What the hell,” under his breath. Ava wasn’t some angst-ing teen, she was mature and tried to address whatever was upsetting her. Was she running away from her problems?

Gil came in right then, and set his laptop bag aside on the floor as he reached out to open the fridge. He stopped and blinked, squinting. “What’s this?”

“Wh-What’s what?” Odin called from the couch, unmoving.

“There’s a recipe on the fridge – for spiced chicken?” Gil gave the piece of paper a dirty look. “What is this, some kind of tease?”

“Ava j-just got chicken,” Odin replied as he twisted himself on the couch to look back at Gil. “M-Maybe she was going to cook something.”

Gil plucked the recipe off the fridge and flipped it over, eyes scouring it. “Ah.”

“F-Find something?”

“It’s a note. Ava says she won’t be home until late, and that myself or you are free to cook the chicken.”

Odin bit the inside of his cheek anxiously, though he didn’t show it. “A-Anything else?”

“No,” Gil replied slowly, flipping the recipe back to the front to see if he missed something. “Strange! Usually Ava likes cooking what she buys. I wonder if she has a project that’s due, or something.”

Odin shrugged, though his stomach was tense. Ava had her own life – her autonomy was to be practiced as freely as his own, and it wasn’t like he didn’t walk off every once in awhile for change of setting.

The difference was that Odin had a car. Ava did not.

Where would she go in such a mood? Idly, he wondered about the friend that owed her a favor, before deciding to drop it. Ava had her own life, and he wouldn’t be getting anywhere by sitting there brooding.

He heard Gil rip open the plastic wrap to the chicken, and decided to help him cook. The faster they made dinner, the faster they could eat. And when Maggie got home, there certainly wouldn’t be any leftovers.

**…**

That night, Odin had lain awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. The smell of cigarettes and old paint permeated the room, and he turned onto his side, wishing for the scent of Ava’s flowery perfume.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. He was definitely pining.

Ava hadn’t come back yet, and he had considered texting her before deciding he didn’t want to come off as needy. Hell, he barely texted his sisters back. Him texting first would be  _clingy_.

He sat up and ran his hands down his face. Sleep wouldn’t grace him as long as he dealt with the turmoil in his stomach. Luckily, Ava had been gracious enough to provide real food for the household, and his hunger was sated more than usual. He would have been content, if Ava hadn’t left in such sour spirits.

He stood and decided to get a drink. Maybe some water would help out.

Opening the door, he was surprised to find the yellow light of the open fridge door sending beams across the tile and carpet. Ava was leaning down, pulling out an apple and biting into it as she continued to stare with half-lidded eyes. Her coat was over one arm, and her clothes were strange – they looked starched and rumpled, like a uniform.

Her hair was wiry and flat, and there was a tiredness over her face he hadn’t seen often.

“A-Ava?” She jumped a little at someone saying her name, before spotting his outline in the dark. “A-Are you j-just getting back?”

“I was busy,” she replied tonelessly, and he recognized the slight pitch in her voice. She was exhausted – what had she been doing?

He closed the door behind him and made his way beside her as she looked back into the fridge and took another bite of her apple. “Th-The Tupperware with the blue top has th-the leftover chicken,” he offered mildly.

“I already ate,” she replied, still eating her apple.

Then why was she looking in the fridge? He scuffed a foot on the floor. “Wh-What were you doing out s-so late?” he couldn’t help but ask, looking at the dark marks under her eyes and stray hairs, bright scarlet against the dark shadows of the room.

She looked up at him, her mouth thinning into a faint smile. “Why?”

He looked away as he mumbled “I w-was worried, that’s all.”

She patted his arm. “Don’t. I just have some stuff to do.” She closed the fridge door and threw the apple-core in the garbage, before stretching, her back popping. “I’m gonna go to bed.” She passed by Odin, and the smell of chemicals and rubber followed her. He blinked and grabbed her shoulder.

She looked back at him, eyes still bright in the shaded room. “What?” she asked nervously, a tremor to her voice. Her clothes didn’t feel right under his palm, and he squeezed his fingers slightly.

“Y-Your smell…” he managed to stutter, and Ava tugged on her collar, inhaling. She recoiled a moment after.

“Ugh. Maybe I’ll shower first.” His hand slipped off her shoulder as she went to her room, not bidding him goodnight.

Once again, Odin felt that uncertain clench to his stomach.

**….**

Ava wasn’t at the apartment much anymore. When she was around, she smelled strange, and was never in a good mood – although she tried her best to be in good spirits.

Gil didn’t think much was wrong, he assumed she was in a club or activity of sorts. When he spoke to Ava, he insisted that she was fine.

Odin could spot a forced smile anywhere.

Without Ava around, he found it was harder to enjoy the atmosphere of the apartment. Although the place itself was shitty, with peeling paint and dripping faucets, his roommates made it a place he could sleep.

He found himself watching the streets outside the living-room window as the sun set. Ava used to come home around this time, and he sighed. With the window open, he could smell the acrid smoke and garbage of the city.

He wanted to know more, but he didn’t want to lower himself to pleading with her for answers.

There was a sharp knock at the door, and as Maggie was out with a new boyfriend and Gil was at his church group, Odin was the only one answer. Ava used to be around to answer the door first.

He flung the door open and hesitated when he saw Six, the landlord, tapping their foot with a displeased expression. “I came to congratulate you on finally paying your rent,” they snapped harshly, and Odin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Wh-What?”

“Your rent. It looks like you’re finally paying it on  _time_ , so I came to tell you I’m recalling one of the marks against you.”

Odin hadn’t paid the rent, and he was the only one with a job at the moment.

Six left without another word, no doubt bitter at the prospect of not being able to legally throw the college kids out, and Odin picked his brain for the answer. Had Gil paid the rent with some pity pay from his creepy bible group?

He went back to the window where he was sitting earlier, about to close it when he heard a familiar voice.

“I said  _no_!”

Ava?

He looked down at the sidewalk lining the apartment, and she yanked her arm out of someone’s grasp. In the dimming light with the sun setting, he couldn’t really make the person out, until he spoke.

“You would keep living in that shitty apartment over what I’m offering?” Dread made his breath hitch. Odin was ready to fling himself out the window if it meant keeping Pedri away from Ava, panic squeezing his lungs and causing his spine to go taut in tension.

She jabbed the mountain of a man with her finger straight in the chest, shouting “I would rather sleep in a  _garbage can_  for the rest of my life than work for a demon like yourself for another second!”

What?

Ava shoved him backwards, Pedri stumbling with her force. “ _Now leave me alone!_ ” She turned and entered the apartment while Pedri watched her walk away, straightening his collar and stalking off into the darkness of the city.

Moments later Ava shoved the door of the apartment open, setting her bag on the ground as she weaved towards her bedroom again. However, an arm hooking her by the front of her shoulders caught her before she could continue. Odin held her from behind, and her back was almost against his chest. She swallowed, feeling a sweat on her brow. “Odin?”

He was silent for a moment.

“Y-You were working f-for Pedri?”

Ava ducked her face into Odin’s sleeve, trying to tug his hand away. “Please let me go take a shower,” she muttered, face flushing red at the prospect of him finding out about her secret.

“An-Answer me first.” He sounded determined, and his voice rumbled in her ear where he was leaned slightly. She sighed, dropping her hands from where they were trying to pull his arm away.

“Yeah.”

“Wh-Why didn’t you t-tell me?”

She rolled her shoulders in a shrug, chest feeling tight. “He… treats you badly, and I didn’t… and he was always offering me a job, and rent was due and we haven’t gotten anything good to eat in weeks-” she was beginning to ramble, her careful phrases and practiced explanations lost in the panic of the moment “-and you haven’t been eating enough again and you’ve been trying to fill commissions and Gil hasn’t gotten any paychecks lately because he’s been in class and I-”

“Ava,” he breathed in slight bewilderment, pulling her aside. She wouldn’t look up, shoulders tense and trembling. He turned her around so she was facing him, her scarlet hair like a curtain in front of her face.

“…And Pedri’s always so bad to you… and I really hate him too, but I needed the money… so things would be better here, and you wouldn’t have to work so hard…”

“Y-You worked with Pedri so I wouldn’t w-work so hard?” The astonishment colored his voice, and when Ava finally glanced up he was staring down at her with an amazed expression. “Ava, I w-would rather w-work my h-hands off than l-let you be around that guy.”

She snapped her head up at him and replied desperately “That’s why I couldn’t tell you! We need the money, Odin, and I thought if I could put up with him for a little bit things would be  _better_  around here!”

He held her firmly by the shoulders. “Th-Things are better when y- _you’re_ here,” he replied, looking between her eyes. Her face flushed and she looked back down. “Wh-What did he even h-hire you to do, anyway?”

“Cleaning, cooking, that sort of thing,” she muttered.

“Th-That explains why y-you smell like floor cl-cleaner.”

“So what, you actually smell me nowadays?”

He snickered and pulled her hair out of her face. “N-Not when you sm-smell like this. G-Go take a shower.”

She shoved him a little, the faint traces of a smile on her face as she turned to enter her room. “H-Hey Ava…?”

She stopped.

“W-Welcome home, b-by the way.”

Her heart swelled. “Thanks.”

**…**

Odin could hear the sound of the showerhead hissing as he laid splayed out on the couch, the TV showing some stupid documentary. On one hand, he wished she told him about working for Pedri, but he understood why she didn’t. It also explained her foul mood half the time, and the fake smell that trailed her – but he still didn’t know why she quit her job. What had Pedri been offering her?

The showerhead screamed to a stop as she twisted the faucet shut, and Odin listened as she dressed and opened the bathroom door. Steam made the room feel heavy and damp, but he could smell her scent again, sweet and airy. It made him relax automatically as Ava say down next to him, hair wet and clean. She was wearing her pajamas, knees pulled up to her chest.

“…Are you mad at me?” she asked quietly.

He sat up. “Wh-What? Wh-Why would I be m-mad?”

“Cuz I was working with the guy that beat your face in.” She looked guilty and nervous, her eyes wrinkled with dark bags and sitting in a ball.

He sighed and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a half-hug. “…No, I’m n-not mad.”

“Okay.”

They were both quiet, her damp hair beginning to soak into his jacket sleeve and her scent pure and clean enough to make it hard to swallow and easy to fall asleep.

“Wh-Why’d you quit?” he asked for the sake of asking, and she leaned against his shoulder a little, a grim expression puckering her lips.

“He wanted me to move in with him.”

“ _What_.” His arm unintentionally tightened around her.

She picked at a stray string on the knee of her loose pants. “He offered room and board so I could-” she put her fingers up in air quotations “-‘live at work’ or some weird thing. I said I could barely work for him much less live with him and I stomped out, but he followed me.”

“Th-That’s… creepy.”

“That’s why I quit,” she laughed a little at the disoriented look on his face. “I think he’ll still try to convince me, though. He says I remind him of someone.” She scrunched her nose. “And that he likes my hair.”

Odin tugged on a lock of her hair between two fingers, still damp. Despite being wet, it still looked like fire between his digits. “I l-like your hair too.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay when you like my hair.” She yawned, eyes glazing over a little. “I  _like_  it when you like things about me,” she murmured sleepily, eyelids flickering over amber. He felt warmth push behind his ribs and cause a welcome tingling sensation down his spine.

Ava tilted over, falling asleep against his shoulder. She was leaned up against him, and he could feel the heat from her arm against his side. Stray hairs that had dried at a faster rate than the rest of her mop tickled his face.

She was breathing softly, flowers and freshness filling up the space around him.

He carefully planted a kiss at the top of her head, murmuring “welcome home” under his breath. She shuffled a little in her sleep and sighed in content as he readjusted his arm around her.

As long as she was here – this place was home.


	34. the one where Odin and Ava are both authors and don't want to admit it

Odin awoke with a start as the moving truck honked loudlyagainst the misty morning. Gritting his teeth, he groaned and shoved a pillow against his face, a futile attempt to blot the noise.

His assumption was to take two weeks off from writing and relax at his home in the country. His city apartment - with papers tacked to corkboard and the phone ringing off the cradle - was not a place for serenity and relaxation.

And apparently, neither was his country home.

Another blaring honk echoed down the silent streets and Odin flinched.

“Stop honking, you’re gonna wake the whole town! It’s just - yes, leave the car by the curb!”

Odin sat up, a steady rage boiling in his gut. His hair must’ve been a mess, and he had an unpleasant taste in his mouth from morning breath, but all was ignored in his foul morning mood. He hastily stood, tossing his blanket aside and snatching up his bathrobe. Without taking the time to scrounge up socks he shoved his boots over his feet and tromped downstairs.

Someone was going to get a poetic earful.

He flung his front door open with a huff and his eyes darted around the area. The sun wasn’t even up yet, and from the street lights he could see the entire area was thick with a slate grey fog. Odin swore under his breath, stepping out into the cool mist, attempting to locate whoever was making so much noise.

In the fog, he could see the headlights of the moving truck, but stomping over to it and yanking the door open, there was no one inside. He grumbled under his breath, shutting the door and wandering through the fog, across his yard and back towards his front door.

Initially giving up, he stepped back towards him home, only to have something blunt ram into his back, causing him to stumble forward. He heard a strangled exclamation and the sound of several objects falling into the gravel under his feet.

“Ah - I’m so sorry!”

He turned around and blinked in surprise.

The first aspect about his noisy visitor he noticed was her blindingly scarlet hair, contrasting almost violently against the cool fog and dark morning. Her face was relatively round, with a button nose and wide eyes like pools of sweet amber. Her mouth was pressed into a fine line as a blush lightly dusted across her cheeks from embarrassment. She ducked her face into her fiery hair and beige scarf, looking from his face to the ground.

She was holding a box, filled to the brim with books, and many others lay on the ground, spilled out from her collision with his back. She shifted, and her off-red dress swayed around her knees.

Odin look down at her.

She was tiny.

“I didn’t mean to bump into you,” she explained while setting the cardboard box down, leaning down on her knees to pick up her books. “This fog is really thick…” and putting a few books in the box she glanced up and pulled some of her hair out of her face, frayed slightly from stress. She squinted, before her shoulders dropped. “…and this isn’t even my yard. Ugh, I’m so sorry.”

Odin found himself leaning down to help her pick up her books, tossing them into the old cardboard. “It’s n-no problem,” he replied quietly, his previous anger extinguished.

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry,” she apologized again, and Odin struggled to form a response. Unlike his family or associates, she apologized often and with genuine regret - a rare trait.

“I always get up this early,” he lied, not wanting to humiliate her any further. With anyone else, making them feel bad would make him feel better, but making this red-headed doll feel worse would just be bullying. He stooped to grab a glossier covered novel, before doing a double take.

He wrote this!

 _Homebound_ , one of his first novels. It was a fantasy-adventure story, and a vital stepping stone to the literary power he had today. He was more well-known for his political articles these days, such as his heated debate with Nanzegani or his research regarding the economy’s decline and TiTAN’s power ascension.

He ran his thumb over his indented pen name at the bottom: _Arrow Gance_. His sister’s came up with the name, and he found it in his favor to hide behind a faux identity while he actively protested against people with more power than himself. Plus, it was pretty clever.

He stared at the book in mild disbelief, having not seen the novel in years.

“Oh, have you read it?” Odin looked back up to the redhead, who was hoisting the heavy box back into her arms. “If not, I can let you borrow it.”

“I’ve r-read it,” he replied with a wry chuckle. “One of h-his older novels, right?” He could have announced being the hidden identity of the novel just to see her crumple - he had done so before, just to see people’s reactions - but he decided to stay his tongue. Without the girl knowing who he was, he would be able to hear some honest critiques.

She took the novel gingerly from his hand and set it on the teetering tower of books, unsteadily holding the box with one hand and propping it up with her knee as she attempted to set  _Homebound_ down at the top. She finally managed to stack all the books inside, and she carefully planted both her hands on the box. “Yeah. Well, it’s good to meet a fellow reader. Sorry for bumping into you!” She turned on her heel and he waved slightly, and watching her walk away, he noticed she was entering the house next to his.

A new neighbor?

He rubbed the back of his head and walked back into his home, shutting the door behind him and relieving him of the cool dampness of the fog. He would ask his new neighbor her thoughts on his work later - at the moment, his stomach yearned for attention.

As he walked through his kitchen, he stopped at the window. The sun was rising and casting the chilly mist away, and he could see the startling scarlet flash of her red hair as the girl struggled to move a sofa on her own.

Odin pushed the curtains aside a little more to glance around, his brow furrowing. Looking up and down the street, she was the only one up. Wasn’t anyone around to help? He saw her hands slip and watched her tumble off the end of the truck, landing in the gravel. Odin could see her hissing in pain as she pulled her hands up from the gravel where she landed, before she stood and tried all over again.

A sense of guilt gnawed at his gut more than his stomach, and he squinted against the rising sun as she attempted to pull the couch onto the concrete walkway towards her home.

He didn’t know her.

There was a moment of mental conflict and he squared his shoulders and headed towards the fridge.

After about thirty seconds of staring in the open door, he swore and headed upstairs.

Moments later he was standing behind the truck, stark hair straightened and wearing actual clothes along with socks, he rubbed his temples.  _This is stupid._

“D-Do you need any help?”

She spun around, not realizing he was there, her hands loosening from the sofa. “Ah - yes - I mean! If you’re offering it…”

He snorted and pulled himself into the truck, replying curtly “I w-wouldn’t have asked oth-otherwise.” He lifted one end of the couch, and she the other. “I’m Odin Ar- er, Odin,” he introduced, not wanting to reveal his last name.

She grunted a little as they started taking baby steps to her door. “Mine’s Ava.”

“W-Welcome to the neighborhood.”

They made it to her narrow door, and they set the sofa down. Odin popped his back before squinting at the small entryway. “Th-This is going to be tricky,” he commented, looking between the couch and the door.

“I think, if we sort of turn it in a sideways L-shape, we can wedge it through?”

Ava glanced up at him for his opinion, her cheeks flushed and forehead damp from the strain of lugging the couch. Stray hairs clung to her face, like fire licking up her cheeks, and she tousled her hair aside roughly. Odin could feel sweat forming at his brow too, but for a different reason. He cleared his throat and looked back to the door, awkwardly running his fingers through his hair.

“It’s w-worth a sh-shot.”

Fingers curled under the edges, they carefully maneuvered the couch through the door. “Turn it left a little,” Ava instructed from the other side. Odin started to tilt it. “I mean my left!”

“S-So you mean right!”

“No, I mean my left!”

“Th-That’s my right!”

Ava groaned and barked “My left, your right!”

“Th-That’s what I’ve been saying!”

“Then do it! My arms are way smaller than yours, I can’t hold this up for much longer!”

Odin yanked the couch right and it slipped through the door, Ava stumbling backwards. They practically tossed it in the main room, facing a wide window, and Odin wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Ava was rubbing her palms together, pressure marks bright red across her fingers.

Odin took a few steps forward before collapsing backwards on the sofa, heaving a breath. He really should have eaten first.

Ava’s air-conditioning picked up, and he relaxed as the cool air rushed over his arms. Having thrown himself on the couch, his shirt was riding up a little, and it felt good on his stomach.

“Uhm…”

He glanced up, and Ava’s face was flushed not from tiredness, but from a blush. She glanced to him before flicking her eyes to the ceiling. Odin sat up and pulled his shirt back into place, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Uh, s-sorry-”

“No, you’re-”

They both stopped, and Ava giggled a little.

She was charming. And she apparently read his books.

Odin found it hard not to like her.

“So hey,” Ava pulled her scarlet hair from her face once more “I know you’d probably rather be doing something else, but I really appreciate your help.” She twisted a lock of fire in her fingers, hair flickering and flashing as the sun came up. The whole room was slowly being drenched in soft yellow light, and the sunrise made her skin almost glow.

Odin felt a smile pulling up his cheeks. “T-Technically, I’m on v-vacation right now, so I’d probably just b-be lounging on my bed watching re-runs of F-Friends if I wasn’t helping out.” He stood from the sofa, clapping his hands together to scatter some dust that was sticking to his palms. “Th-This is a much better use of m-my time.”

Ava had pushed a few other boxes aside, and glancing over them there appeared to be more books than anything else. “Y-You like reading?” he questioned as they both began meandering out the door and back to the moving truck.

“Heh,” she rubbed the back of her head “I’m a bit of an introvert… I have more books than friends.”

Odin chuckled, wedging a rock in Ava’s front door to keep it open while they moved things. “S-Same.”

They both made it to the truck, and Ava hopped into the back like a rabbit to hand a box down to him. As he adjusted it for a better hold, she hefted another one into her arms. “You’re on vacation, right?” He nodded as she hopped off the truck, her red dress fluttering around her knees and her scarf undoing a little. “So what do you do for a living? I don’t know many people whose jobs give them a vacation in early spring.”

He rolled his shoulders nervously as they walked back. “I’m… uh… a wr-writer.”

“Really?” She flashed a white smile. “So am I.”

He relaxed as they stacked the boxes at the far side of the room. “R- _Really_? What are th-the odds. Genre?”

“Ah, I write a lot of stuff. Short stories, news articles, journalisms, anything really.”

Odin nodded in understanding. “S-Same.” Well, it wasn’t exactly the same - a bit of an understatement - but it was similar regardless.

Ava walked past the couch and to the wall diagonal, where a kitchen and counter lie. On the counter was a slim pink purse, and she began unzipping it and rustling inside for something.

“It looks like we have a lot in common, Odin.”

He nodded again, observing her pulling out her cellphone and wallet.

“You don’t have to,” she started “but I was planning on ordering breakfast. Do you want to join me?”

His stomach protested sharply.

“Absolutely.”

~~~

As they killed time, waiting for the delivery man to arrive, they moved a few more boxes and locked the truck up. Afterwards - and inevitably - they began talking literary.

“Wh-What do you th-think about Arrow Gance?” He questioned, curious to know her opinion about him and his writing in secret.

Ava was laying on her back, lounging on the sofa. Her hair was fanned out underneath her, and under the brightening sun, it almost looked like magma pooled around her. “Hmn. I like his older stuff.”

He blinked from where he was sitting on the far side of the couch, looking at her face upside down. “R-Really? Why?” If anything, his newer works surpassed his novice literary skills by a long-shot.

She rolled onto her stomach, dress folding tightly against her with the movement. She had to shift a little more so it wasn’t completely folded under her, so it wouldn’t be as difficult to move. Ava was nearly animalistic in her actions, from side-stepping on tiny feet to rolling on the furniture.

“He was better when he wasn’t so - I guess, prideful? It was fine when he gained confidence in his work, that made it better, but after getting wrapped up politically and gaining some influence, he left writing stories and started writing government.” She waved a hand. “I mean, that’s fine, but he totally ruined his unique writing style that way. It’s like he sacrificed creativity for logistics, to get some power in the big world, and that’s kind of a downer.” Ava shifted, sitting up and pulling her static strands of hair away from the cushions. “I’ll read a newspaper to see the world - but I’ll read a book to escape it.”

He stared at her, jaw slightly slack. “B-But, aren’t his political statements relevant?” he asked, brows furrowing.

“Well, yeah. I didn’t say I ignored his newer works, I just like the other ones. I told you I write, and I protest against TITAN’s rise in power too. The reason I moved was because the company bought out my apartment complex and I wasn’t about to make a hypocrite of myself by living in his property.” Ava pulled her scarf off and laid it aside, airing out her throat, the skin sweaty. She stood up and continued talking while making her way to the air-conditioning panel, turning the cool up a bit. “Back to my main point, though, I just wish he’d keep his political statements out of his stories. As clever as his allegories were in  _Third-eye Demon_ , it just felt like he was throwing his weight around. I read a book to - well, to have an adventure.” Cooler air rushed from the vents, and she turned around to look back at Odin. “I don’t care if I sound childish, I read a book to go on an adventure.”

He laughed a little at her defiant tone, and he leaned his arms over the back of the couch to maintain eye contact as she was adjusting different things in the room. “Y-You sound like Fyre Ire.” She went tense. “Y-You recognize her?”

“Ye-eah,” she replied, drawing out the word anxiously “I’ve read her stuff.”

“I figured,” Odin responded with a shrug “It s-sounds like right up y-your alley.”

Ava sat back down next to him, checking her phone for the time. “What do you think of Fyre Ire?”

Though he was slightly mollified by Ava’s strict and incredibly accurate critique, he managed to reply cognitively. “I l-like it well en-enough. I r-really like her anti-TITAN stuff, y-you can just t-tell that ass of a corporation put her th-through some stuff for her to r-rip them down so effectively. That d-doesn’t happen often though, b-because she writes more stories than anything. D-Did you ever read her _Silent Scavengers_?” Ava nodded, watching him attentively. “Th-That was intense. I was a pretty dis-disappointed when she an-announced the whole planet th-thing wasn’t supposed to be an allegory for TITAN corp.”

“There was definitely space for it,” Ava replied with a nod “but I think since she just finished that debate with Head Executive Six, she was still in the political mindset.”

Odin stared at her, getting a feeling of vertigo. The way she was acting was almost similar to how he was acting, and he wondered what she was covering up.

Before he could investigate, there was a knock at the door. They both hopped to their feet and rushed to the door, eager for food. As Ava swung the door open, Odin recognized the delivery boy, as he had ordered from the same service a few times.

Employee Gev was holding a canvas bag and squinted, looking between Ava, Odin, and the receipt he held. “Oh, so it’s supposed to be a split order between a-” he scanned over the receipt “-Miss Ire and Mister Odin? I know you order a lot from us, Odin.”

Odin blinked in shock as Ava quickly replied “Oh no, I’m paying for all of it.” She paid cash and she took the canvas bag, filled with foodstuffs, before bidding Gev a rushed good day and shutting the door. She turned to Odin.

“Odin  _Arrow_?” she questioned, raising a brow.

He crossed his arms. “Ava  _Ire_?”

They both stood in silence, before Ava stated “It looks like we haven’t been completely honest with each-other.”

“It s-seems so.”

Ava walked away, setting the bag on the counter. The only noise was the slightly crackled rush from the air conditioning and the faint bird-calls outside. Ava sighed.

“I am so, so sorry,” she apologized. Odin glanced around to make sure she was actually addressing him, and confusion was heavy on his features. “If I knew you were Arrow Gance, I wouldn’t have whined about you not writing fantasy novels anymore, and I wouldn’t have been so blatant and mean.”

Odin strode to the opposite side of the counter to look across at her. “If I kn-knew you were Fyre Ire I w-wouldn’t have whined about you not wr-writing politically more often. I m-must have sounded like an ass.”

Ava didn’t reply for a moment, taking his comment in, before she emptied the bag on the counter. It was several seconds later she asked nervously “Are you working on anything else right now?”

He nodded.

“Tell me about it.”

Odin had to admit, it might not be bad to be woken so early if he got to spend mornings with good company. He picked up his breakfast burrito and smiled.

“A-Alright.”

If Ava was his new neighbor, this vacation was going to be great.


	35. the drabble where Odin is petrified of his own powers

It wasn’t like everything died instantly.

It was slowly.

He used to run his fingers through the fresh grasses, but the moment his fingertips brushed the sharp green blades, they shriveled, yellowing stiffly at the edges.

Odin thought maybe, it was just the one time. Maybe, it was just his powers getting a little out of hand. With time, he could control them.

Then, he tried to stroke one of the stray dogs that lingered around the back of the Arrow’s household. Almost instantly the creature bucked, howling in agony as it scrambled to flee from under his pale palm, running to the woods with its tail tucked.

After that, he began wearing gloves.

It was a precaution – and he stopped touching things out of habit. His sisters went without affectionate head pats, the local wildlife went without his company, and florem mortem stopped appearing in the household.

The others avoided him. Gil, although pacted, began to bruise whenever Odin brushed him in any way. Maggie began finding stiff, browning streaks in her hair.

He didn’t even want to see what would happen if he touched Ava.

However, that didn’t stop her from accompanying him on the hilltops during sundown. She sat beside him – not touching, he always made sure they were far enough apart – and they watched the watercolor sky as it ebbed into lush violets and deep blues.

They spoke once in a while. Odin would tell her tales, tell her about stories and legends of the flora and fauna. Ava would tell him of imaginary places, of places she wanted to see and spoke of a future too grand to envision in one sitting. They listened to the other, they spoke to the other – and this day, Odin spoke again.

“S-So do you…” Ava inclined her head a little as she listened, her hair poured over one shoulder. The sunset made her glowing skin soft and sweet, gentle colorations of rose pink and ebbing golds over her face. Odin swallowed and looked back to the setting sun. “D-Do you still burn things?”

Her gaze went downward. “…yeah.”

Odin found it was harder to write with gloves on, and his hands trembled as he tried to write. His pencil made half-hearted lines across the coarse paper – clumsy, reckless scribbles.

Odin tossed his journal aside roughly, burying his covered fingers into his hair, curling down into a fetal position.

“Odin?”

“I c-can’t do th-this, Ava,” he croaked, shivering. “I – I c-can’t even p-pet my s-sis-sister’s heads any-m-more, I c-can’t touch th-the flowers or p-p-pet the dogs-! Am I ev-even  _alive_?!”

Ava shifted onto her knees and reached out. Odin ducked and pulled back, yelling “D-Don’t!” but it was too late. She had settled her hand around his bare wrist, pinked fingers warm on his skin. He stared at her hand, and went stiff as she pulled a glove off. He went fully ridged when she cupped his hand between hers, palms hot against his cool, leathery fingers, and he looked up at her.

The sun was down; she was glowing.

“See?” She took his hand and placed it on her cheek, a small bowstring smile showing her tipped canines. “You’re alive. It’s okay.”

He hesitantly reached out with his other hand, looking at the glove. Ava pulled that off too and settled his hands on her cheeks, almost burning to the touch. She blinked up at him with sincere eyes and thick lashes.

“I c-can… you’re n-not hurt?”

She shook her head just slightly, the ends of her scarlet hair brushing his fingers. “No – I’m just fine. Are you okay?”

He nodded slowly, staring at the sun in his hands.

He wanted to lean forward and taste fire. He wanted to take her in his arms and feel warm again, he wanted her to make him feel alive again.

He didn’t.

Odin pulled his hands back and slowly slipped the gloves back on, looking down at his journal. Ava stood, brushing off her dress, and plucked it out of the dirt, handing it over to him without looking inside.

He once again looked into the face of warmth, the sun brightly glowing at night. Ava smiled kindly, putting a hand out. “Should we head back?”

Her open palm was glowing to the tips of her fingers, magma pooled under the pads of her fingers and tight rivulets faintly pulsing in her knuckles.

His hand slid into her and she pulled him onto his feet.

“L-Let’s go.”


	36. Word of Mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the one where we headcanoned that odin spoke another language  
> kisses my fingertips like a chef  
> canon now babey

“So english isn’t your first language?” Ava asked curiously, helping him move a metal panel aside so he could work on the ship’s engine.

“Ah, I l-learned them b-both at the s-same time… but my n-native language is easier for me to say.” Odin leaned down and checked the circuitry of the main core. A few wires were splayed out, metal fibers periodically dancing with electricity. He sighed, pulled the toolbox over.

“Can you say something? In your language?”

He paused as he pulled the wire-cutters out. “L-Like what?”

Ava shrugged, tugging on the hood she wore. It covered her horns - nothing could be done about the claws, though. They were persistent through any glove she wrenched on. “Maybe - Tell me a formal greeting, or something.”

He sighed, leaning back. She was allowed to be curious, and there seemed to be so few things about the universe she knew. It wouldn’t kill to sate her interest in something she seemed so invested in him about. “ _Val’et nu baal_.” The words rolled easily off his tongue.

“What does that mean?”

He regripped the wire-cutters and spliced a frayed wire, before pulling up a roll of electric tape and connecting it to the other line. He was used to this sort of work. “It r-roughly translates to ‘Good M-Morning,’ or ‘Good day’.”

Ava squatted down to look at what he was doing with the removed panel. “Roughly?”

“N-Not everything translates cleanly into English.”

She made a humming noise, lips pursed as stray hairs clung to her face. “That’s impressive. It would be nice to be properly bilingual.”

He quirked a brow at her verbiage, opening his mouth in anticipation of asking her, before the engine exploded with life and heat washed over him. He blocked his face from the backlash, dark bangs shifting.

“Q-Quick, the panel.”

Ava - with a strength that surpassed his own - easily handed the heavy metal plate back over to him. He affixed it over the hole, bolting it back into place as the ship’s lights began flickering to life.

“Th-There, now O-Olai won’t keep his p-panties in a twist.” Odin sat forward and popped his back. Before he could hoist himself to his feet, Ava offered a hand out to help him up. Not wanting to appear ungrateful for her help, he took the offer - a scathing palm against his own, claw tips just barely brushing his knuckles - and she pulled him to his feet.

“Uh… Th-Thanks for h-helping. I kn-know you didn’t have to.”

Ava smiled at him, bronze canines flashing briefly with the innocent gesture. “I’m happy to help.”

He didn’t mention that she never offered to help the others when it came to their chores – that was when she went off into the nearby forests and didn’t emerge for hours – which brought an interesting sentence to mind.

I’m happy to help  _you_.

He wanted to shake the thought out of his head. He was trying to read between the lines again.

Someone calling out across the ship bay caught both their attentions. “Hey Ava! I was wondering where you wandered off to.” Olai strode up to her - dangerous, calm Olai - and took a glance at the panel. “Helping Odin? You know you don’t have to participate in labor work, right?”

Odin prickled a little at Olai’s tone. Ava was considered higher up in the hierarchy because of her light-show on TiTAN HQ. Although they obviously regarded her as a monster, something that also nettled Odin, they also considered her a valued resource. Something to be used - and being immortal, she wasn’t easily disposable. The Scavengers were good with supplies.

“I like helping,” she replied quietly, looking the other way. “Besides, me and Odin were going to check the shuttle bay for repairs, right?” Her eyes were pleading - she didn’t like Olai. You could see the anxiety and dim frustration brightening under her skin just being around him.

Olai mulled over her statement for a moment, before replying “Alright. When you want to do something with someone  _competent_ , let me know.” He left with a swagger to his stride, and Odin could see Ava’s pupil’s dilating in irritation.

She spun on her heel, cloak flapping with the movement, and began walking the other way. “He really pisses me off.” Odin followed after her, picking up the toolbox as they weaved around the various ships.

“Wh-Why?”

“He treats you like garbage. And he’s always putting the twins up above you, even though you’re way more mature than them.”

His eyes went downcast. “Th-They… They have th-their reasons.”

“What kind of reasons would justify treating you like  _trash_?” They found themselves at a ship that needed its landing gear replaced, and Odin was quick to slide onto one knee and begin undoing the bolts that held the ruined metal in place.

“Th-They think I’m c-crazy or something,” he muttered, not wanting to delve any further on the subject.

Ava’s voice tightened, growing feral. “That is  _never_  an excuse to abuse another person.  _Never_.”

He wondered if she had experience in this area of expertise, as she sounded particularly angry at the moment, when he recalled her outburst in the classroom he was attempting to pull Maggie out of.

_‘Get out of my head, you crazy witch!’_

Looking at Ava, he wondered what all that was about. Before he could extrapolate on his family’s way of working or question her past, the ship groaned, and he pulled the faulty landing wheel aside.

“C-Can you hand me the wr-wr…wre-wr-”

She smiled sweetly as she handed it over before he could finish. “Wrench?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Yes.”

He began securing the replacement wheel into place, rolling it to ensure it was stable and wouldn’t undo during a landing sequence.

“Th-That should be the last r-repair, for now.” He stood and dusted his pants off, picking up the toolbox.

She pulled her hood off for a moment to straighten her hair out, pulling it over one shoulder. There was so much of it, he had considered asking if she would want the scarlet mass braided at any point. With her face exposed, without the shade of the hood, he could see how the contours of her face pulsed with light, how her eyes flicked up to his, molten pools of gold looking between his eyes. Her lips quirked into an awkward smile, the tips of her canines wrinkling her lower lip when she worried her teeth.

“I was, uh, glad to help…” Ava muttered, fingers fumbling with her hood.

He looked away and rubbed the back of his head. “Y-Yeah. Th-Thanks for the help,  _kalenn_.”

He froze.

 _Shit_.

“Huh? ‘ _Kalenn’_? What does that mean?”

Odin spun around, clearing his voice and announcing with a bit too much vigor “N- _Nothing_ , it doesn’t mean an-anything, just a - a stu-stupid nickname - d-don’t worry about it.”

Ava appeared curious, but she didn’t ask anymore on the matter. For that he was grateful.

**000**

“Can you tell me anything else in your language?”

Although Ava was considered a higher-up, being TiTAN’s greatest foe and all - he was still jarred by that - she still sat to eat with him during mess.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fl-fluent.” He took a bite of his food, and glancing up to Ava’s platter he could see she was eating a lot of meat. A few slabs sat on her platter, and she tore through them with her serrated teeth without a problem.

“Hmn.” She chewed and swallowed.

“H-Hey, so, wh-what’s with the grand feast over h-here?” It almost looked gluttonous, and if there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was someone who took their food for granted.

“Oh, I…” She bit her lip and looked around for anyone listening - to which there weren’t - and she muttered uncertainly “I have to eat a lot, lately… I don’t like eating this much, I promise! I don’t want to waste any food-”

He stopped her with his hand, before raising a brow.

She groaned and clicked her teeth together. “I burn off a lot of energy when I - er,  _fight_  - and I have to compensate my lack of energy with nutritional intake.” She picked at her steak and sighed, looking aside. “I sort of hate it, but I need to stay up with my health if I’m going to be of any use.”

He looked down at her platter, before looking to her uncertain expression. “S-So you h- _have_  to eat this much?” She nodded. “Wh-What happens if you don’t?”

She took another mouthful of meat and barely chewed before swallowing. He could almost see her throat flare, like adding wood to a fire, magma bellowing up her veins. “I can’t die, but it’s not good. What  _she_  to-” Ava caught herself “-I, uh, my organs start to burn themselves apart to keep up with me. It’s not… It’s like starving,” she explained with an idle wave of her hand “but you’re also on fire.”

“N-Nice,” he replied sarcastically, downing the rest of his water. “H-Had any experience w-with starving before?”

“No.” That was almost a relief to Odin. In a lower voice, she mumbled “not yet, anyway.”

That caught his attention. “N-N-Not  _yet_?” She jumped that he heard her. “Wh-What is that supposed to mean?”

“Your supplies won’t be able to handle me eating like this for long,” she replied in a low tone, eyes downcast. “And you know it, too.”

She was right. The Arrow’s supplies were dwindling with Ava’s eating. But knowing that you might eventually starve without any way of stopping it hit him in the gut, hard enough to make anxiety slither up his throat and nest in his mouth. It was too similar to the shadows of his past. It was too similar to sitting up at night, hunger gnawing at his gut like a thousand teeth pulling his insides.

“I c-can show you h-how to hunt,” he replied automatically to her trembling.

She looked up at him flatly, and the expression was almost comical on a hellbeast like herself. “I’m pretty sure I can kill a thing, Odin.”

“L-Let me sh-show you how t-to do it properly.” She polished off the rest of her food, and looked up at him with wrinkles under her eyes as her mouth pulled into a thin line of contemplation. “Y-You can help restock f-food supplies that way.”

She relented with a small smile.

“Okay.”

He offered out a hand to help her, and her palm didn’t seem so scathing as he helped her to her feet.

**000**

“Th-There,” he whispered, almost leaning over her as they looked through the foliage. “Du-During the deer’s breeding s-season, we hunt boar. C-Can you see it?”

Her pupils were tight as she nodded, her sight locked on the boar.

Odin pulled out a bow and arrow. He took a steady breath before nocking the arrow to the bow, steadying it with his finger. He pulled back, the string going taut.

His eyes narrowed as he aimed for just behind the shoulder blade - a shot through the heart would end the massive creature’s life instantly.

A bird above them squawked at the moment he let the arrow loose. The boar was startled by the avian and jolted just to the side enough that the arrow whizzed past its hoof and buried its head in the soft soil.

“ _Te’ckt_!” he swore, and Ava didn’t need to ask to know what that meant. However, the boars had only moved a little farther away. Odin could still hit one, if needed.

“Odin,” Ava whispered in a startling clear tone “give me the bow.”

“Wh-What?”

“Give me the bow. And an arrow.”

She gave him a look when he didn’t comply, and he reluctantly handed the bow over to her, and an arrow. The worst she could do was miss.

She pulled her hood down, releasing the cascades of scarlet, and she nocked the arrow on the proper side, pulling it back in a textbook perfect pose.

He cocked a brow. She didn’t know how to hunt traditionally - she  _couldn’t_ have. She told him she was stationed on a TiTAN planet all her life.

Her eyes were strange again, all gold and red, pupils side-long and her teeth peeking past her lips. Magma was pooling under her cheeks, making her fingertips white hot and her hair go on end.

She took in a steady breath and fired.

The arrow split the air and cut through the boar’s flesh, the creature collapsing before it could utter a noise. The herd scattered as the boar died, and her shoulders relaxed as she looked back to him, a wide smile on her face, showing her bronze teeth and perking her tipped ears.

“H…How in th-the hell?” He looked to her for an explanation.

“Did I do it right?” She wasn’t looking to gloat, she was looking for praise, verification. “I think I hit it right…” and she tapped her chest, her dress covering the wooden thing affixed below her collarbone “…and I’m still getting used to her memories.”

Odin gave her a curious look, pondering her words. What could she mean?

“Did I do it wrong?”

She was looking his approval.

His heart beat hard in his chest as he looked into the shining sun that was her face, and he smiled gently.

“Y-You did it right,  _kalenn_.”

Her face flushed darker colors, and she smiled bashfully. She didn’t know what the word meant, but it sounded sweet.

He looked around, and finding his siblings weren’t around, he relaxed. Who knows what they would say if he was referring her by that title.

“L-Let’s process the meat and head back.”

His hand slid into hers as he pulled her through the brush, and the light grazing of her claws over his knuckles didn’t bother him so much.

**000**

Ava was filing her horns as Wrathia had instructed. Apparently the various layers of hardened bone could gather over a single flaw and make an uncomfortable and unattractive lump if she wasn’t careful, and the last thing she needed was to look even more monstrous.

The file was supposed to be used on firearms, but it normal nail files could never graze her horns.

She sighed and stretched her arms.

“Man,” Raven regarded from across the room, holding an armful of laundry “I wish I had a pair of those!”

“No you don’t,” Ava contradicted with a clipped laugh. “What’re you doin’ in here?”

“I thought I’d give you some clothes. I know you only have a few pairs.” She threw them onto Ava’s bed and was heading for the door when Ava asked her to stop.

“Hey, Raven?”

The twin blinked wide eyes, and cocked her head like a curious bird. “Huh?”

“What does  _kalenn_  mean?”

Raven’s eyes widened, but before she could reply Odin opened the door. He looked to the clothes on her bed and the file in her hand. “B-Busy?”

“No,” she replied with a slight smile “I’m just working on keeping myself kempt.” Raven snuck out the door with a grin on her face.

“Sh-Should I go?”

She shrugged, filing her horns to the tips. “If you want to. I’d like your company, though.” He uneasily sat on the far side of her bed, watching her feel over the bone framing her face for any cracks or otherwise. She leaned her elbows on the vanity she was looking at, and sighed at her reflection.

His eyes traveled down to the cape of hair that trailed along the ground behind her. It looked like fire pooled around her chair, hot to the touch and flashing like the tail of a shooting star. He bent down and pulled her hair off the ground.

“Whaaat are you doing?” she asked with a high squeak, freezing in place, looking at him through the reflection of the mirror in front of her.

“Y-Your hair. It w-was on the ground.”

“Yeah,” Ava worried her lower lip between her teeth “I don’t know what to do with it.”

He looked to the scarlet in his hands, warm and fine. “I c-can braid it f-for you, if you’d like.”

“…really?” She turned in her seat to look at him directly. “You don’t have to.”

He stood as she straightened in her seat, and he pulled up her brush. “I us-used to braid my sister’s hair all the time.”

He began his work.

Her hair was literally warm to the touch, and it was difficult brushing past her horns. He had to curve it against the crown of her head not to snag on the dark bone of her horns, cresting her head like a circlet. Her hair seemed displaced among the gentle, dark colors of the room – all grey and dim, her hair was a blotch of scarlet paint on a blackened canvas.

“Hey,” she asked quietly, her eyes closed as he brushed “what else can you say in your language?”

Her head was arched back, slender throat exposed as she spoke. Magma slithered up her skin, fire-flesh brightening with each stroke. Her face was calm, a small smile dancing across her features, leaning against the rhythmic brushes he provided. He could see faint discolorations among the fire, fading and fresh scars.

He felt himself speaking before he could stop himself.

“Nuuzen f’lani… en alis’ bi drahn.”

A smile quirked her lips, showing slightly crooked teeth, wrinkles under her eyes as she asked “What does that mean?”

_You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met._

“Old sentiment,” he responded tightly, shoulders quaking. She couldn’t understand the language he was most relaxed with, and he was both grateful and resigned.

He twisted and braided her hair, until it was a single rope of scarlet settled between her shoulder-blades. She rolled her shoulders and sighed in relaxation, and Odin attempted to gather himself.

She pulled on his sleeve a little and she smiled up at him. “Thanks for helping with that…” He felt the edges of his lips pull into the shadow of a smile. “… _kalenn_.”

His face exploded in violet, heat causing his vision to sharpen and his muscles go taut. “D-D- _Don’t_  c-call me th-that,” he snapped in his panic, and Ava blinked.

“What does it mean?”

“Th-That doesn’t matter-”

“What does it  _mean_ , Odin?” Her tone was turning feral, and he felt an uneasiness settle creep down his stomach. The tips of his fingers tingled in anxiety, so he rubbed them together as he tried to find the right words.

“It… d-doesn’t translate p-perfectly into eng-en-english,” he stuttered, hoping that would dissuade her a little. It didn’t, and her molten eyes, bright with fire and rage narrowed into slits.

He swallowed, and his throat felt gummy. He gestured to the air, licking chapped lips before responding “R-Roughly… it m-means…” He looked away, towards the floor “…my h-heart.”

Ava didn’t say anything for a moment, looking down – her hair was tied up, so it didn’t block her face, but he could only see shifting lights. “Your… heart.” Her voice sounded weak, and quiet. Her shoulders trembled.

He wanted to settle his hands over her shoulders, maybe to try and calm them, but his hands were shaking too. The inside of his mouth itched but he didn’t want to make a fool of himself by flexing his lips into ridiculous faces, and he couldn’t stop bobbing his knee.

He looked into the mirror to see Ava’s expression, and felt his gut drop.

Her eyes were wide, and tears pooled down her cheeks and dripped onto her clasped hands. Her eyebrows twitched and her lips trembled, and it was obvious she was using every inch of willpower to keep herself from bursting into sobs.

Odin turned to do something – close the door, leave the room, leave  _completely_  – but her voice stopped him.

“Please don’t leave,” and her words cracked like dried flowers.

He hesitated, before just nudging the door shut with his foot. “I w-won’t.”

Ava sat there, all trembling fire and just keeping together. She was holding on by a thread.

“Ava,” he asked gently, trying to be as soft as he could “d-did I s-say something wr-wrong?”

Her voice was choked by how tight her throat was. Her hands unclasped and set them firmly, palms down, on the tops of her knees. “No, you – you didn’t.”

He steeled himself and set his hands on her shoulders. She went stiff, stray muscles twitching with how tense she was. Her skin was warm under his palms. “Th-Then why are y-you crying?”

“I – I don’t – I  _can’t_  – ” she furiously rubbed at her eyes, and her breaths were beginning to be short and sharp, exhaling with a shudder.

Odin took in a moment of bravery. He had to try and be what she needed, if just for this moment. If for a  _single_  moment, he could make her happy and feel as worthwhile as she made him feel – a warmth behind his ribs swelling with pride when his family saw them both dragging in a dead boar, the threats between her teeth and between brightly narrowed slits whenever Olai bullied him - then maybe whatever was eating at her and making her cry would stop.

He stepped in front of the mirror, facing Ava. Her eyes were flushed from crying, and she bit at her bottom lip, hiccupping.

Odin leaned down and pulled her close against him, arms around her shoulders.

She was stiff for a moment, before the flames dissolved into muffled crying against his chest. Her arms wrapped around his torso and she leaned into him, feelings unwinding.

He didn’t know what she was feeling. All he knew was that it was hurting her, and she needed someone.

He pulled them both to sit on her bed, where she curled against him and fought to stop her crying. “Wh…Why can’t I call you  _kalenn_ …?” she asked, words muffled into his shirt.

Her question startled him, and he looked down into her fiery hair and magma spilled on his lap. “B-Because I d-don’t think you f-feel the same way ab-about me.”

She suddenly laughed, albeit watery. “Why do you think I’m crying, you old nerd?”

“Wha- you’re cr-crying  _because_  you l-like me back?”

She shifted in his arms and her crying subsided into trembling sighs. “I’m crying because this is the first time this has ever happened.” He could feel her breathing against his chest, and her horns dug into his collarbone a little. Her claws bit a little into his shirt, but he didn’t care.

Did she mean that this was the first time she had fallen in love, or that this was the first time someone ever loved her?

He remembered something Olai had told him when he still considered him family.

_You’re playing with fire, Odin._

He carefully ran his calloused fingertips down her head, feeling the flames.

He looked up, thinking, before taking a breath and speaking. “Nuuzen f’lani en alis’ bi drahn.”

She finally drew back a little, looking up. “What  _does_  that mean?”

Odin ran his thumb over the apple of her cheek, muttering “Yo-You’re the most beautiful wo-woman I’ve ever m-met.”

Her face flushed, glowing, shining.

_You’re going to get burned._

Odin smiled.

“I’m n-not going anywhere.”


	37. the highschool AU where Odin is an emotionally constipated art student

Odin didn’t romanticize things.

He found no beauty in the throbbing bite of a flame, found no solace in the flickering silver of the sky at night. He wasn’t stupid – he could read a book and understand the theme of it, understand representations and deeper meanings easily – but he found it to be a waste of time to be amorous with a feature or a characteristic.

Because of his straightforward thinking, he found it to be a staggering surprise when he found he had fallen in love.

It wasn’t with the person at first – no, he barely knew her. She was quiet, and timid, and her smiles were rarer than lilies growing between the concrete slabs of a city.

Her hair.

He was idly doodling, not looking where he was walking. Graphite smudged on rough paper, cheap binding unwinding under his fingers as he sketched out a random scribble. He hadn’t been feeling like drawing in weeks, and he wished there was something worth painting.

She had run straight into him.

His supplies toppled out of his hands, and he turned, scowling.

“I’m so sorry!” She apologized, and the first characteristic he saw of her was fire pulling away from his chest as she set her things down and began to pick up his pencils and sketchbook. Her hair burned to look at, his eyes watering and blurring the world into watery reds. It shimmered, catching the gold of the sunlight and amplifying it ten-fold over the scarlet that pooled over her shoulders. He blinked rapidly.

She handed him his things.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!” He scarcely got a look of her face – rounded cheeks, a nervously crooked smile, amber eyes – before she picked up her things and dashed off into old carpeted hallways and rank classrooms.

He blinked owlishly, before looking at his pencil.

Odin pulled his ratty bag over one shoulder and slipped his supplies inside, walking as he worked, and he opened the art-room door with one foot and slipped inside.

Tuls barely acknowledged him, and that’s how he liked it. They had a mutual ignorance, quietly supporting the other when they needed paint, but staying out of personal lives.

Odin set his bag on a cracked wooden table, covered in water rings and blotches of dried paint, and turned to Tuls. The mountain of a man had once mentioned how he had a “muse,” someone he adored and gave him endless inspiration.

Odin tapped his shoulder, and Tuls inclined his head slightly, pale green eyes almost alien in the dull lighting.

“I n-need the red,” he gestured, the makings of a smile on his lips.

()

Odin wasn’t a stalker.

That didn’t mean he didn’t seek out the girl, looking around the school grounds when he previously would have hid in the art-room or the catwalk of the stage to smoke. She was difficult to find, a phantom of sunlight that made herself disappear when the lunch bell rang.

He had been passing by the library when he could see red bleeding into the corner of his vision, and he almost tripped over his feet turning to look through the library window.

She was leaned over a book, nose buried between the pages as her eyes darted over crinkled yellow pages. Her fingers were fidgeting over the hard cover, catching fiery locks between the digits and curling them anxiously as she read.

He looked at her and wanted to paint. He wanted to catch whatever world she was envisioning in her novel and put it on canvas.

He ran a hand down his scratchy chin and sighed. He was being stupid.

Fingers picked at the loose string of his hoodie. He bit the inside of his cheek, tongue running over crooked teeth and bobbed a leg, before deciding to at least  _attempt_  and make conversation.

He put the flat of his hand on the wood of the door and prepared to push-

Someone sat down across from her. A handsome senior, with a charming smile and shining, pale hair, skin so translucent it almost looked like watercolor blues.

The girl put her book down, and smiled.

They talked, touching hands and  _obviously_  flirting.

He drew his hand back. That was Gil Marverde, one of the star students of the school. Of course – of  _course_  someone as stunning as herself would be with him.

He didn’t realize how high his hopes were until they sunk, pulling his hood over his head and popping his earbuds in. He blasted music and ignored everyone, trying not to look at the people around him.

The class bell run, and he tried to pretend he didn’t hear it so he could smoke behind the theater stage.

Even as smoke curled around his head and made his chest ache, he only saw scarlet hair and pursed smiles.

()

“You have been upset lately,” Tuls noted aloud as Odin pulled stand up, and he turned to look at the back of his head. The lanky painter was still crouched over his canvas, but he continued to speak. “You were inspired only a few days ago. What changed?”

Odin wanted to be fierce and tell him that it wasn’t any of his business – he couldn’t possibly know how  _stupid_  he felt about having an aching heart – but he recalled the dozens and dozens of paintings Tuls crafted because of his lady-love, yet he never confessed.

He set up his canvas, textured surface blotted with basic colors. “I f-found a muse.”

Tuls stopped painting a moment, brush lingering over damp paint.

“Sh-She’s… taken.”

His head bobbed in sympathy from across the classroom, and Odin sighed, yanking his hoodie over his head, slipping it off and tying the sleeves around his waist. At least he knew Tuls wouldn’t make fun of him for his stutter or tell anyone about anything. The man was as talkative as a tree, sometimes making noise in high winds and tribulation, but silent otherwise.

Odin set his palette to the left, running calloused fingers over the fine tops of his brushes, feeling for dried paint and flexing the fibers.

Looking at his things, he realized he hadn’t grabbed a tube of green. He considered asking Tuls for his, but decided they had talked enough already.

Stalking across the room, he pulled open the paint cabinet, and was greeted by burning hair and a round face.

His heart stuttered like his words as he blurted aloud “Wh-Wha-?”

The girl put a finger to her lips, somehow having squeezed herself into the second shelf of the cabinet. “Shh,” she whispered “I’m hiding!” He blinked, not processing the situation as amber eyes implored him to close the cabinet, when a girl burst through the far door.

Odin turned around, and the redhead pulled the cabinet shut.

This other girl had hair dark as emeralds and skin the rich color of fresh bark. In one hand she held a potted tree like a baseball bat, the leaves ticking her head as she held it aloft and demanded “Where’s Ava?!”

Odin quirked a brow, altogether confused. “Wh-Who?”

“Ava,” she continued in exasperation “red hair, tiny as a rabbit?” She turned to the side. “Tuls! Seen anyone?”

“I haven’t seen anything,” he responded dully while painting, eyes on the canvas. She huffed, knowing he hadn’t  _not_  been looking at his work for the last few hours, and turned back to Odin.

When Odin only responded with furrowed brows and pursed lips, she groaned and smacked a hand to her face. “I swear to god I am going to beat her with this when I find her,” she muttered as she closed the door.

The art-room was silent.

The cabinet door creaked as Ava’s head stuck out, and she tentatively asked “Is… Is she gone?”

Odin nodded, feeling a thrumming in his chest like feathers up his ribs as she hopped down, dusting herself off. “Thanks for not saying anything,” she said aloud, though it didn’t register until she introduced “I’m Ava, by the way.”

He took a breath, steadying himself. “O-Odin.”

His stutter didn’t seem to bother her as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I hope I didn’t disturb you two too much?”

Odin jabbed a thumb over one shoulder. “Y-You couldn’t d-disturb Tuls if the wh-whole school lit on fire.”

“Not true,” he replied curtly “you know how smoke bothers me.”

“Yeah,” Odin glared “Y- _You’re_  the reason I c-can’t smoke in here.”

“Isn’t smoking on campus not allowed?” Ava chimed, looking between the two of them.

A wicked smirk slipped across his features as he replied “ _If_  y-you follow the r-rules.”

Her face flushed a deep pink across her cheeks, and for a moment he thought of grabbing  _cardinal_  instead of  _forest_  in the paint cabinets. “W-Wait a moment, wh-why was she after y-you anyway?”

Her face went awash with something akin to shame, her eyes lowering and her lips pursing. “I… uh… I’m dating Gil, and Maggie really, really likes Gil. A lot.” Odin nodded knowingly. “But it’s not like what it seems,” Ava muttered and sighed, anxiously drumming her fingers along her forearm.

“Wh-What?”

Her eyes darted up, before she blurted “Nothing! It’s nothing, thanks for letting me hide here, Odin – I’ll just-” she stumbled back and bumped the nearby counter, jumping a little “-I’ll just go!” she squeaked, darting out the door on pivoting feet like a startled rabbit.

Odin blinked and his mouth split into an open smile, not seeming to care that anyone could see crooked teeth and his lop-sided grin.

Tuls hummed to himself knowingly as Odin began painting again.

()

Ava visited the art-room sometimes.

It was never for long, but she did anyway – taking Odin into consideration, like he was a friend – and she was surprisingly sparing.

“You always paint in here after lunch?” She asked curiously, tiny feet exploring the old room.

He was dabbing the canvas with yellow, and wrinkled his nose when it was an orange instead. “Y-Yeah, the art teach n-never showed up, but m-me and Tuls never changed classes.”

She spun around, dress twirling and hair dancing. His strokes slowed for a fraction of a second. “Hey, Odin – do you ever eat lunch in here?”

“N-No.”

“Why not?”

He took a step back from his painting and decided he really needed to repaint his lines. “I d-don’t usually eat lunch.”

She puckered her lips and looked upset. “That’s no good,” she noted, going on the tips of her toes to try and look over his canvas and failing, instead leaning to the side, her hair gathering to the left side of her head.

“Wh-What would you s-suggest I do?” He grumbled, trying to ignore the sharp protests of his stomach.

She mused a moment, before going to her bag and rustling around the books. Odin ignored her for a moment, instead focusing on how he was supposed to paint a  _feeling_ , when she shoved something at his chest.

“Remember to return the Tupperware,” she instructed as she exited the room.

He looked between the closing door and the Tupperware against his abdomen. Cautiously opening the top, he found it appeared to be a box meal – meat, vegetables, and a half empty bag of crackers were crammed inside.

Another smile slid across his face and he found he liked her cooking.

()

He was ditching.

It happened often – but this time, he was considering going to hide behind the auditorium when he saw a couple making out by the vending machines.

He was going to ignore them, as he did most that weren’t particularly inspiring, when he recognized pale hair and transparent blue skin.

Gil was in a passionate lip-lock with somebody, and it certainly wasn’t Ava. Gev, one of the assistant workers at the front office, had his arms around Gil’s neck.

Odin went from zero to furious in seconds.

_Gil is cheating on Ava?! What the hell?!_

Odin was quick to duck around the corner, backpack hitting his hip as his heart pounded in his ears. Ava had to hear about this – she  _had_  to know her boyfriend was a complete liar.

He would be lying if he said he wouldn’t get a small amount of enjoyment from this. If Ava broke up with Gil, then maybe…

He shook his head as he traveled down the halls, searching out whichever class she was in. It was wrong to try and take this tragedy into his own hands, no matter how much it might advance his chances of getting a date with her.

As suspected, she was in the library. She must have been studying during passing period, and his palm didn’t linger over the door as he pushed his way into the quiet library.

She spotted him and smiled a little, ducking her head as he went around the table. He put his hands flat on the table so they wouldn’t shake.

He hoped this wouldn’t break her heart.

He hoped she was suspecting this.

“A-Ava, about G-Gil…” he licked his lips, slightly chapped and he leaned down a little to whisper to her. “I j-just s-saw him m-making out w-with-”

Her eyes widened and she leapt over the table, slamming into him with her hands cupped over his mouth. They toppled between two bookcases, and Ava looked around to make sure no one was listening. Odin was flat on his back as Ava was on top of him, palms across his mouth as she leaned over and hissed “You could have ruined everything!” Her hair tickled his face, and he furrowed his brow, expression asking the question.

“Odin, Gil is gay!” She removed her hands.

He quirked a brow. “I c-couldn’t tell.”

She tightened her legs around his ribs. He felt his stomach lurch in embarrassment, though she didn’t seem to notice through her rage the position they were in. “No, I mean – he’s not  _out_  yet, Odin!” She gave him a desperate expression. “I’m his cover!”

He sat up and she toppled off of him, scrambling to keep her skirt down. “ _What_!”

“Keep it down!” she shushed from where she was splayed out on the ground, scarlet hair fanned out behind her. “He’s my cover so creeps don’t flirt with me, and I’m his so he won’t be kicked out of his church group!”

“S-So… you t-two are just fr-friends?”

She rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t make out with Gil if someone  _paid_  me, he’s like a brother more than anything. Just fake flirting makes me feel sick.”

Odin stood and helped her to her feet, and she had to straighten out her frazzled hair. Soft hands brushed the dust off her skirt and she clasped them together, looking between Odin’s eyes. “Please,  _please_  don’t tell anyone!”

The smell of parchment and flowers her followed her everywhere, and the scent of her perfume made him feel dizzy. He swallowed, throat gummy and palms sweaty at her begging.

“Of c-course not,” he sighed, looking away. She latched her arms around his torso, and he could feel the heat from her breath as she announced “Oh, thank you!” Her cheek brushed his arm, and he cleared his throat, looking away.

Being taller, he could see through the emptier top shelves of bookcases. Being taller, he could see Maggie storming in, sporting a new potted tree that she was wielding like a bat.

“Uh, Ava?”

She pulled away. “Hmn?”

“M-Maggie just c-came through the door l-looking like she h-has a bone to pick.”

Ava’s face flushed with panic and she instantly darted to the supply cabinet against the wall, where she flew the door open – and Odin could swear she somehow  _shrunk_  in size as she fit herself inside, shutting the metal.

Maggie came around the corner as he stared at the metal cabinet in awe.

“I can see Ava’s things, so where is she?!” Maggie demanded angrily. She swung the plant at him, and Odin’s knees buckled as he ducked as to not get a mouthful of leaves.

“Wh-Whoa, calm down!” he implored, putting his hands out like he was calming a wild horse “Wh-What’s your problem with A-Ava anyway?”

“You mean other than the face that I told her I had a crush on Gil and then  _the very next day_  they’re dating?!” She swung the plant at him again, except this time he didn’t fear the foliage, slapping it aside.

“H-Have you  _asked_  her about it?” He questioned, standing up and picking his backpack up from where it toppled onto the ground after being attacked by a tree.

“I tried.” She sniffed.

“…w-with the t-tree in hand?” he asked flatly.

Her face pinched red. “Hey, I had every right to be mad!”

Odin extended his hand. “I’ll t-tell you where she is if y-you give me the tree.” Maggie seemed to weigh her options, looking between the slender tree in her clenched fist and Odin’s outstretched hand. She eventually gave in, handing him the tree. “Wh-Where did you even g-get this?” he asked as he leaned it against a bookshelf.

“Agricultural studies. Now where is she?!”

Odin very leisurely leaned against the wall beside the cabinet. He picked at the hole in his pocket, tossing a ball of lint to the side as he said aloud “Ava, sh-she doesn’t have the tree.” There was a moment of silence, before the door creaked open and Ava peeked out, fingers curling around the door.

She looked terrified.

Maggie’s own expression flickered guiltily, and Ava hesitantly unfolded herself from the cabinet, fiddling at the hem of her dress.

Odin watched as the girls explained themselves, and had to restrain from laughing at Maggie’s surprise when Ava revealed why they were really “dating”.

“So you… Gil is just dating you for cover?” she question, running a hand through her hair, tousling the tight curls.

“Yep. He only likes me as a friend.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Ava made a face, wrinkling her nose and shooting her eyebrows into her bangs. “Because you were trying to beat me with a tree?”

Maggie flushed. “But… why  _you_? I mean-” her eyes widened at how rude she sounded, but Ava waved a hand.

“I’m always getting picked on for not having a boyfriend, and Gil knew it, so he decided it would benefit us both. Besides,” her eyes went downcast, the fire of her hair extinguishing with her self-loathing “there isn’t a guy out there who would find me attractive.”

Odin couldn’t stop himself. “I w-wouldn’t say that,” he replied softly, and Ava spun around to look at him in disbelief and surprise. Odin’s throat went tight as he realized he said that aloud, and he choked an excuse out. “I have to get to class,” he lied before rushing out, trying  _not_  to look rushed but speed-walking anyway.

As he ducked around the hallway, he ran a hand down his face and groaned.

What a way to screw that up.

()

Odin was almost finished with his painting. Oh, what a must could do. He hadn’t been this inspired in weeks.

But with his last sloppy confession, he didn’t really feel like painting.

The door creaked open and Tuls settled himself down and started pulling his things out ritualistically, putting them around himself.

“H-Hey Tuls…” he inclined his head, the only signal that he was listening. “If y-you could… even if sh-she rejected you, w-would you confess to y-your muse?”

Tuls didn’t even hesitate.

“Yes.”

Odin looked at his painting and sighed. The door opened again, this time revealing an anxious round face and scarlet hair gathered around cheeks like fire licking up her skin. “Odin?”

“H-Hi, Ava.” He attempted to smile in a relaxed way, but it passed as fake. She scooted inside, black shoes tapping the tile as her cheekbones lit up with a blush.

He cleared his throat. “Ab-About yesterday…”

“I’m sorry,” she blurted. He looked between himself and Tuls before going “uhh…” and Ava continued. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you – you were only trying to tell me about Gil because you were worried about me, not to get him in trouble. I’m sorry for getting angry.”

He rolled his shoulders, feeling a stiffness in his arms. “D-Don’t worry about it. I w-was about to g-give away your whole sh-scheme.”

She laughed a little, voice high and lilting as bird calls. “Too late.”

“Wh-What?”

She absently walked around him, running the pads of her fingers over the ruined tables. “Gil announced that he was going out with Gev yesterday in front of his church club leader. I think they’re planning on kicking him out, except he’s like, the most devoted one in there?” She shrugged. “Either way, I guess the charade is over.”

She turned to face Odin, and her eyes wandered over to his painting. He tried to step in front of it, but she already identified what it was.

“Odin-”

“I c-can explain-”

“-was that a painting of  _me_?” she looked bewildered, fingers interlocked against her chest and eyes wide.

He glanced over his shoulder, looking at the reds and the golds in delicate lines. “…K-Kinda? Ugh,” he pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers “l-let me explain…” he moved aside, revealing the painting completely.

It depicted a girl sitting on a hilltop, covered in tiny, delicate yellow flowers. The girl herself had bright red hair, shifting in the wind slightly, with an endless sunset coloring the horizon with roses and sweet lavender.

“Wow,” she breathed, fingers lingering mid-air as she wanted to touch it but refrained herself.

“It’s… Uhm…” she glanced to him expectantly. “Y-You’re my muse.”

She blinked three times in succession. “I’m your  _what_?”

He grasped at the air with his hands, gesturing wildly as he tried to grasp at his words. “I – wh-when I see you, I w-want to paint. I w-want to make s-something.” She looked back at the painting, still in awe. “Wh-When I see you, I w-want to make something as p-pretty as you.”

Shock made her jaw go slack and her hands to loosen, gaze darting back to Odin’s soft expression. He looked away bashfully, rubbing the back of his head and trying to control the shaking in his hands, his palms itching in anxiety.

“You know,” she noted aloud, twirling a lock of fire between her fingers “I  _am_ single now.” She looked between him and her feet, and Odin realized what she was offering.

“W-Would you like to g-go on a date?” The words tumbled out of his mouth clumsily, too fast and too unconfident.

Ava smiled at the ground. “On one condition.”

He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly.

“Return my Tupperware.”

Odin felt himself laugh from relief more than her joke, pulling an arm around her shoulder. “D-Deal.”

As they chatted, Tuls chuckled silently to himself.

“It’s about time…”


	38. the one where graduating is hard

 Ava knew she’d end up like this again.

She had started out alone, save the small ties she had to almost strangers, people she merely recognized and saw on a daily basis. Ava was the one in the classroom playing with the crafts after the time was up because no one bothered to go to her table, she was the awkward middle-schooler who sat alone at the lunch tables and read during recess to ebb the coil in her heart. She was the kid that everyone called weird or quirky, the one that kids found out they could bully because in the end, she had no one to run to for help.

Ava was a scapegoat, a punching bag, and a loner. That was just how her story went.

She wouldn’t say high-school was fun. Actually, it was more hellish than any other time in her life. But she had made friends.

She had reconnected with Maggie, sweet Maggie who was now fiercer than any other girl she had met. She had earned respect from Gil, a past senior who actually liked the way she studied.

Odin.

At least in this place, she knew there was someone who had her back, someone who licked their wounds behind the scenes and whose past has left him as scarred and beaten as it had left her. They were such similar creatures, that she held him above most in her heart.

Ava sat at the far end of the chairs, her black shoes tickling the astro-turf. She was looking past the bleacher lights into the darkening night sky and she swallowed hard, feeling a lump growing in her throat. When she finally pushed it down, it constricted around her heart and stomach, squeezing her lungs so tightly she could barely breathe.

Her fingernails dug into the fine edges of the Graduation cap she held in her lap. She had decorated the top of it with flowers and glitter, the tassel frayed at the end from her constant pickings.

Her hair had been styled nicely when the night began, but now she didn’t bother to pull it back as it began to static around her cheeks and tickle her eyelids.

They had graduated. They had survived this horrible, torturous place.

Now it was time to say goodbye.

Odin would be leaving for college. She didn’t know which one – she hadn’t bothered asking, because then she knew she might follow like an abandoned puppy-dog. She knew that wasn’t Odin’s intention. He would never abandon her – just earlier, they had exchanged numbers and emails, snapchats and any other form of communication they knew to contact the other.

Seeing a picture wasn’t the same. Ava wanted to hold his hand and wear his sweaters and smell that sickening scent of cigarettes and the sweet sap of pine on his shoes.

She was being selfish.

Ava wiped her eyes and tried to force the tremor from her hands.

She wanted to study art and English. Both wildly competitive, but she was good at it and she wasn’t going to kill herself at a desk job. She was going to a college out of town, far out in another state.

She wasn’t going to miss this place, not the desks with the gum on the bottom, not the smudged whiteboards or the slow, careful eyes of the teachers.

She would miss the little alcove behind the theater stage where her and Odin would ditch and listen to music.

She would miss the library, in all its sweet and calm, smell of parchment and ink a lullaby to her usual anxiety.

She would miss the regular routine of getting up and coming to this place, dedicating life and limb to get through it trials.

She would miss her friends.

Ava didn’t realize when she was crying, only that the painted flowers on the top of her cap were beginning to run as the hot, salty tears were streaming down her face.

She sniffled and rubbed her hands furiously over her face. A cool wind bit at her ankles.

Gil was going out with his adoptive mother on a vacation to the beach. Maggie was going to the local graduation party, filled with music and screams of joy. Odin was going to spend the time with his family, and his dear sister, who was well enough that she was able to leave the hospital.

Ava was going to go home and get used to the feeling of being alone again.

She stood and looked around the field. Almost everyone had left, the signs of their departure the stretching shadows across the walkways. She sluggishly began to walk, hugging herself, whispering that everything would be okay, even though the change would hurt.

As she walked, she could see the shadows and laughter of people as they began a new step in their lives, a new journey.

Ava sighed when she got to the stairs.

She was always bad at going up steps.

She pulled her hair back and began looking fo the zipper on her gown, as it was suffocating her legs, when a familiar hand settled on her shoulder.

“H-Hey.”

She didn’t look up, but her head jerked a little as she fought instinct. “Hey… Graduation, huh? What a night…”

Odin chuckled deeply, his laugh etched into her memory but refreshed all the same. She couldn’t look at him.

“A-At least w-we’re finally out of h-here, huh?”

Ava couldn’t stop the trembling.

“A-Ava?”

She turned and rammed her face into his chest as she wrapped her arms tightly around his torso. He choked a little, coughing slightly as his arms automatically settled across her shoulders.

“H-Hey… Wh-What’s-?”

“Don’t forget me,” she managed to hiccup out. Before he could say anything, Ava pulled away from him and ran across the concrete, trying to ignore how cold her shoulders felt without his arms around them, how sharp the air seemed without his scent. He called out, but it was lost as she found a crowd of graduates and weaved through them with expert skill. She was used to pushing her way through crowds now.

Ava went through the waves of ceremonial gowns and crafted hats as she fumbled her way to her car. She really couldn’t do this.

You didn’t feed a starving man and then take food away. The pain was twice as worse.

Ava sat in her darkened, crappy car, and she cried.

>>> 

She was sitting on her couch, in her empty house, feeling just as empty. She had changed into pajamas and sat curled in the fetal position on her couch, flicking through her phone. She had just gotten a conformation Email from the college she was going to – TiTAN’s University. It might take her all her life to pay it off, but it was the best.

She would be living in an apartment over there, with other randomly selected people.

She hoped, she prayed, those would be people that liked her. People that didn’t mind that she forgot to shower or comb through her hair, people who didn’t judge when all she could do for a day was sit and watch the dust settle.

Ava’s luck was never so sweet.

She sighed and sat up, flicking on a lamp for more illumination. She wasn’t going to be getting any sleep any time soon, so she may as well start packing.

She already had a few things packed, clothes mostly – but she felt the real venom settle in her veins and hiss through the bloodstream of her heart as she took down her posters and pictures, emptying the fridge and rolling up the last of her socks.

This home wasn’t really hers to being with – it was her parent’s, before they had died. Miss Bellarmina insisted that she could only keep the house until graduation, so it was pivotal she should move away as quickly as possible.

Ava glared at the box in her hands.

“What a demon,” she muttered. At least when she moved away Bellarmina couldn’t hurt her anymore. ‘Godmother’? Ava never felt a single strand of parenthood from that redheaded beast.

She set the last box up on the stack, looking at her bare mattress and the emptiness of her home.

Her phone vibrated on the couch. Ava curled back up on the flattened cushion and held the phone against her knees.

_Odin: [10:23 PM]_

_Where are you????_

Ava felt her chin slowly touch the tops of her knees as she slouched over. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the screen lighting up with another text.

_Odin: [10:24]_

_You can’t ignore me._

He knew her so well. Her fingers were almost numb as she replied.

_You: [10:24]_

_I’m packing. The moving truck comes tomorrow morning._

He didn’t text back, even as the minutes rolled by. She set her phone back down and rolled up on the couch, looking at her purse and the painfully few boxes around her. If she had a big family, her whole home wouldn’t fit in ten boxes. Five of those boxes were just clothes, fluffy sweaters and winter jackets. The boxes weren’t even that big.

Ava sighed shakily and raked her fingers through her hair. She thought about listening to music, before remembering a crooked grin and dark hair as Odin recommended another song to her, until her phone was at maximum capacity and she had to delete some for space.

She thought about watching a movie, but remembered the time they had laughed themselves to sleep at his house when they watched a horrible film made on a shoe-string budget.

She thought about drawing, but remembered how excited he would get about the museum trips they went on.

Ava was certain there should be some physical wound to show what she was feeling. There should have been a cut straight to her heart, gushing blood so everyone could see exactly how she felt, so she could see the sadness as blood on her hands. Maybe then she would feel better.

The heaviness settled like a blanket around her, the sting of isolation beginning to feel familiar as her eyes began to shut.

She would have to get used to this.

Her eyes itched a little – they were puffy. Her nose ached and her tongue felt swollen.

“Graduation, huh?” She sniffled and looked up at the ceiling. “What a night.”

“Y-You should r-really lock your d-door.”

Ava shot up, eyes darting through the dimness of the room as she spotted his figure, revealing himself from the dark as he held a pizzabox.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“L-Long enough t-to know th-that you’re miserable.” He set the pizzabox down on one of the boxes and Ava looked back at her knees as he sat down beside her, a hand settling softly on her elbow. “Y-You’ll h-have to l-look at me eventually.”

Ava dragged her gaze to his face, and stifled a small gasp.

The five-o-clock shadow on his face was familiar, the knots in his thick hair and the twist of his mouth was forever in her mind – but as she met his eyes, she saw they were enflamed and puffy from crying.

“I’m g-going to m-miss you too,” he whispered softly, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to stop the moisture gathering under his lids. Ava wrapped her arms back around him, her hands settling at the small of his back as they embraced. The fire of her hair was something that could never be battled with, the brightness of her eyes or her laughter – Odin would miss every inch of Ava Ire, and he didn’t think he could hug tight enough to show that.

“D-Don’t forget me,” Odin pleaded softly against her throat, and Ava could do nothing but nod.

In the end, the both had to lay bare their bleeding hearts and could only step up to the future.

>>> 

Ava stepped into her ‘new’ apartment, her things already in her room.

She wrinkled her nose at the horrible tiling, at the muggy smell and the drip of a broken faucet. The rug had a few questionable stains on it.

“This is a really shitty apartment,” Ava noted aloud as she wondered who her roommates were going to be.

Then, all at once, she could smell sap and cigarettes.


	39. the one where Ava is an art model

Art was a time for Odin to relax.

Although drawing was never easy, he could let his mind wander to that place between mountain and cloud, so often visited by artists. He could simply let his fingers and eyes do the work as he thought of nothing at all, only graphite on coarse paper, only ink on parchment and paint on canvas.

He liked working with models. Not because he liked seeing people in the nude – he wasn’t that sort of person – but because so rarely in college life was there a time to look at the fine details and replicate them. Art studies provided that, and he liked drawing real, live people rather than bowls of fruit or still life.

He had drawn all sorts of models. Most of the models that came in were actually college students themselves, those who weren’t ashamed of their figure or simply needed the money and didn’t mind sitting still for a few hours. Some were shamed because of that, but Odin had a special respect for them. He knew he couldn’t model, he didn’t have the guts for it.

Odin scratched at his chin as he set up his sketchbook, pulling out his pencils and his stubby eraser. The teacher was going on about doing another still life of a model, and he only listened with half an ear.

“-She will be your model for today, and as usual, I want you to treat her with the upmost respect, as you must with all your models.”

Odin glanced up and blinked.

Standing by the teacher was a short girl, with cascades of hair. She looked around nervously, obviously all nerves as she tugged on the bathrobe collar.

“We’ll be practicing how to draw gossamer, or transparent cloth, with pencils. Remember never to smudge in your shading unless you plan on doing that throughout your entire piece.”

The model was set up on a platform, and she shed her robe. A moment after the teacher draped a semi-transparent cloth around her as she went into a sitting position, her knees pulled up to her chest and feet crossed. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, and her hair was pulled over one side of her shoulder, scarlet burning like a backdrop of pale skin.

“Begin. You have forty-five minutes.”

Odin didn’t realize he was staring.

Quickly he began sketching out her basic form, before starting on the details. He usually wasn’t one to start with the face – Odin drew things like the hands and feet first to get them out of the way before drawing the rest of the body and shading, but for once he switched it up.

Her face was round and calm, but there was a heaviness under her eyes that showed fatigue. Her lashes were thick, and her mouth was slightly open to show her teeth and how she worried her lower lip.

Everyone had a story, and Odin found it fascinating to find out other people’s through drawing.

This girl had slim shoulders and a slender throat, the lines across his paper smooth and trained as he replicated her form with graphite. Down her arms made him hesitate.

She had scars, criss-crossed over and over, some freshly healed and others older. They went down just to the elbow before her skin was smooth after that. He wondered where she got them, or if it was self-inflicted. As his hands carefully sketched out her scarred skin, he pondered what she was doing here.

He sketched out the cloth that was around her shoulders and draped over one knee, behind her hair and tucked between her knees. He drew the lines that would imitate her legs, and her hands settled on each other halfway down her legs. He noticed how her nails were a little ragged, like she chewed on them sometimes, and how her knuckles were a little scarred over, like she had hit something that caused the skin on them to break.

He continued drawing – the long strands of hair that framed her, the cloth wrapped around her form, the rolls of her stomach, the scars – when he heard a classmate muttering.

“How am I supposed to draw someone so small? She’s tiny!”

The model’s eyes flicked in the direction of the voice, before she looked back at her knees and her brows furrowed a little. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and the blush pinked her shoulders and knees.

Odin picked up his eraser and tossed it at his classmate. The student made a choking noise when it hit the back of their head.

When they turned to glower at Odin, he barked “I’m t-trying to draw. Sh-Show some r-respect for the m-model.”

He turned back to shading one of the folds of the cloth and squinted when he couldn’t remember how it folded. When he looked up his heart leapt into his throat.

She was watching him. The model blinked slowly, with wide amber eyes. He gulped and ducked his head back down and continued to draw, but whenever he looked up she was staring back, her mouth pursed as though deep in thought, her eyelids fluttering.

Odin tried to ignore it, focusing on her hands and feet. They were small – it would be hard to distinguish detail. He began doing hairline shading, trying to show the scarring on her knuckles and the way her toes curled.

“Ten minutes, wrap it up.”

The class groaned – time always seemed to pass quicker when they were drawing. He began shading, trying to show the cellulite on her legs, before moving on to the cloth. His hand was beginning to cramp as he finished up the tips of her hair.

“Time’s up, put your supplies down.”

The students grumbled while Odin leaned and popped his back. He had done most of the work – he was fast and efficient – but he felt that this piece was particularly detailed. He had put a lot of thought into it.

The professor passed by. “Arrow. I’m impressed. You managed to sketch her entire form in detail before the time was up. You get a one-hundred.”

He felt the envy of his classmates like pinpricks at the back of his head as he thanked his professor and put his supplies away. He shut his sketchbook, slipping it into his bag along with his metal pencil holder, before passing by the Professor to get his final score, and leaving. He didn’t like to linger with the other students.

Still, he liked the model. She had a story.

He looked over his shoulder in an attempt to give her once last look, but she was already gone. The platform remained empty.

He sighed and wormed out the door into busy hallways. Automatically he wrenched out his headphones and popped them into his ears, going through the playlists. He was in the mood for classical, something that rarely happened. Just as he began to pull his phone into his pocket, to immerse himself in music and forget about the other college students around him, something tugged sharply at his elbow.

Odin popped out an earbud, vinegar already on his lips as he turned around and was prepared to sneer at whoever interrupted him, but stopped short.

The model was shorter than he anticipated. She was wearing thick clothes, a heavy sweater and a long skirt, with little black shoes. She opened her mouth and hesitate, her cheeks almost glowing pink, before she thrust a hand out.

He blinked and put his hand out as she dropped his eraser in his palm.

“You-! You left that in the classroom,” she muttered, twirling a lock of hair in her fingers. “I wanted to thank you for defending me earlier. I don’t usually model, but one of my friends told me it would be good for my confidence, and…” she trailed off. The music in his ears reached the crescendo. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes went wide as she blurted “Well, goodbye!”

He reached out and grabbed her sleeve. “W-W-Wait!”

She stopped and held her hands at her chest, eyebrows worried together and shoulders trembling.

“Ah – wh-what’s your name?”

She seemed to relax at the question. “I’m… Ava.” Ava spoke so quietly he could only catch her name in the ear that wasn’t blasting music. Her name was short and odd, like his own, and he could appreciate that.

“I’m O-Odin.” He let his hand drop from her sleeve. “Did… y-you wanna go out f-for some coffee s-sometime?”

“Why are you interested?” she asked. A second later she suddenly put her hands in front of her face, going “Wait, I – I didn’t mean that to be rude, I was just wondering-!”

A smile tugged on his cheeks. “Y-You have a s-story to tell.” She stopped babbling and cocked her head, fire licking her shoulders and swinging behind her hips. “I… w-want to h-hear it. Th-That’s why… d-do you want to g-go out for c-coffee?”

Her mouth split into a smile, and it was blinding. “Sure, I’d love to.” As she began walking alongside him, she asked “Are you listening to Tiempo Di Valse?” He nodded in surprise. “I like classical best.”

As they walked side-by-side, he pondered the scars on her shoulders, her nails and knuckles, her pursed lips – and smiled a little.

“So, what’s your story?”

He blinked in surprise, looking back down at her. “Wh-What?”

“I was looking at you, after you threw the eraser. You have a story too. I can see it on your face,” she gestured forward a little, her fingers almost brushing his chin, before drawing back.

It was jarring to think that she had been watching him as carefully as he had been watching her.

“Ah – w-well,” Odin scratched the back of his head, looking away. As they began to walk towards the local coffeeshop, he decided that he really liked art models.


	40. Shunning Graves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that one circus AU that's a bit more complicated than that

Lights danced across the light sky, mingling with smoke and adorning the stars with a sickly yellow hue as the festivities continued. Vendors sold sweet flaxen wax candy and popped kernels in paper bags, and the sound of skipping music and the shouts of attraction leaders blotted out any other noise.

“Come and see her,” one yelled, wearing white and blue pinstripes “come and see the flexible woman! She bends and twists in unearthly ways, impossible ways, incredible ways! Come and see her!”

Blue and white striped tents held “attractions” on the inside, from curiously performing animals to deformed living people. The real money-bringers were shown only in the grand tent, one with a roof a hundred-foot high and wide walls pinned shut to stop anyone from sneaking a peek at the inside without paying.

It just so happened a boy passed this tent. He was carrying a crumpled bag and was periodically leaning over and tossing garbage into the bag, and continued walking. One shouter snorted and pointed a cane at him, yelling: “Come and see him, the literal bone boy! No muscle, no blood, only bones and skin!” to which others who knew him stifled a cacophony of laughter. He scowled but said nothing - his pay would still be there, no matter the jeers.

Even if the pay felt a little like blood money.

Everyone always poked at Odin, at the way his ribs stuck out like bare branches, at the way every breath rattled through him like wind through a sapling. They used to be sympathetic, or at least, repulsed by the way his skin pinched tightly over cheekbones or how sunken in his eyes looked in his skull, skin white and waxy as bone. But they didn’t used to make fun of him for it, leastwise until the found out he couldn’t fight back.

He had built up some respectable muscle mass, but there was so little of him there, it was impossible to see under layers of old clothing and stitched cloth. But he didn’t say anything of it, because if his appearance wasn’t worth picking at, his speech impediment was.

Odin had worked at this Circus for two weeks now, and he hadn’t been inside the massive attraction tent. People paid handsomely to go in, and when they came out their faces were strewn in what seemed to be unrestrained delight and a touch of madness. He assumed that was because they were bewildered at what they witnessed, but what had they seen that caused such uneven laughter to boil over, unstoppable as they rushed out of the tent?

He hadn’t known, and hadn’t cared to know, until the owner of the Circus came before him.

Odin was leaned over and snatching another discarded popcorn bag off the dirty ground, when a cane rapped him on his crown. His looked up, brows furrowed, meeting sharp blue eyes and a white, unhealthy pallor.

Six tipped their white hat, swinging the cane gracefully in an arc before settling the end between their feet.

“You are to go into the Gazebo and collect garbage. Afterwards, you will do as Fira says.” With that command, Six turned and began to walk away, before shooting a look at Odin over their shoulder. “And go wash up, slum dog. My circus cannot have even the rats looking so filthy.”

Odin wanted to bark something in rebuttal, but bit his tongue. This money was for Magpie’s medicine, her pennypincher of a doctor wouldn’t take any less than a week’s pay for her pills.

He dusted himself off and meandered towards the entrance, passing children clinging to their parent’s legs, young strapping men leading proud ladies about, and elder folk watching the cage with cool, dark expressions.

Odin came to the entrance of the grand tent and hesitated. A thought niggled like a sneaky fish in his mind, winding through the steady stream of his thoughts. He might see something in here that would change him, that would stay buried in the dark recesses of his dreams forever.

He cast his fear aside bitterly and stepped in.

The gazebo as Six called it, was filled with declining rows that came around a stage. There were hoops and trapezes hanging from the ceiling, with empty cages and whips laying around. Odin wandered to the stage, the bright lights off center as the workers took a break. There was a bow and arrow, the arrowheads wound with oiled leather to be lit as flaming arrows and shot at a target later, and some ribbons for dancing. He felt a chill prick the hairs on the back of his neck at spotting what appeared to be an iron spear, sharpened to a deadly point. He settled the tips of his fingers across the scoured surface, and it felt icy. What would this possibly be used for in the show?

Something snapped and he jumped to find one of the performers practicing with their whips off stage, ignoring Odin. He then set to cleaning up the garbage, which had built up as they never really let anyone except the performers themselves and the customers in, and before long his bag had filled and he had to set it aside and snatch another up, before filling that as well.

“Th-These people are an-animals,” he muttered to himself as he tossed another half-eaten bag into his pack.

“Only the best attractions are,” he heard the reply across the way, and spotted Fira setting up the entrance booth. “There’s a few rations of food in the back. You need to hand them to the right attractions, they need to eat before performing.” Odin set the trash bag aside and weaved around the wooden benches to come to the back. There were heavy stitched bags, tied with a weak rope. Curious, he opened the closest one.

It held meats and seeds, whole eggs and a flask of sweet cider. There was also a glass bottle with a copper cork in it, so Odin popped it open and took an experimental taste. It was milk and honey mixed together. Briefly, he thought how much Magpie would enjoy this - and taking a cursory glance around the back, he slipped the bottle into one of his long pockets sagging on the inside of his pants. He also took a few eggs and set them in his other pocket.

He had stolen food from this place before, but these rations were extravagant. His family would need them no doubt more than the performers.

The rope was red and he glanced around to see a red birdcage. It was massive, too big for any avian he knew, but he hoisted the bag there anyway. As he neared it, he could see heaps of red silk on the inside, enwrapped in a swathing blue cloth. Suddenly, the silk shifted, and he realized it wasn’t fibers, it was scarlet hair. He could see the curve of a pale neck and the slight flutter of eyelashes, and Odin steeled himself.

The girl in the birdcage turned, and her eyes set fire to his face. She was something else - her face was a little too round and young, but her hands that twisted the blue cloth stumbled like his words might.

“I… h-have your f-food…” he managed to stammer. He held the bag out and her hand tenderly stretched out to meet it, fingers curling softly around the bag and pulled it between the bars. Odin felt the need to run away, like he shouldn’t be looking at her, the way her hair licked at her shoulders like the steady flame of a campfire. Her skin glowed a gentle golden color, and he watched in fascination as she pulled out an egg and ate it, shell and all. She swallowed it and ate the other, and Odin could see strange bronze teeth and feathers woven in her hair as she moved.

There was a resignation on her face he couldn’t pinpoint, and exhaustion that came with the fight to survive. But she wasn’t thin from lack of eating, nor was she beaten or harmed in any way that he could see - what had made this creature so hopeless?

Odin took a look at the birdcage she sat in and his stomach flipped.

She spoke, and it was the crackle of wood blackening in a bonfire. “My milk is missing,” she stated with thinly veiled shock, and she looked at him.

She knows, he blinked rapidly and looked away guiltily.

“…I see,” she replied slowly, but she only kept eating. She didn’t call for anyone, she did not accuse him outright of stealing from her, only knew what he did and acknowledged that she knew.

The guilt ate at him, and he wondered if that’s how she always made people feel - like their own regret was their punishment. She wouldn’t have to lift a hand.

Finally he pulled away from the cage, feeling small and ugly in comparison to her unearthly strangeness, and he fetched the other bags for the other performers. He did not look in their cages or containers, for fear of feeling so guilty and so useless again.

“Odin,” Fira quipped “the show is about to start. Sit at the end of the audience to pick up their trash when they leave.”

He situated himself in the back with another empty bag as the lights went dim and the show started.

“See the incredible, the beautiful, see him glide see him dive, the merman!”

The tank was revealed, and a boy with charming silver hair and deep blue eyes looked out at the audience. The tank was a little too small, and the tip of his fish tail splashed out of the edge of the glass, the silver and neon scales up his back and scattering around his torso. He made a choking noise and threw his head back, and glittery bubbles emerged from the pit of his throat, scattering through the air. The audience made a sound of awe, but Odin saw the way he thrashed and his eyes were wide.

The merman was suffocating.

The lights went dim in time to see the workers pull the tank aside and one dump a bucket of water over the merman’s head, who gasped in mouthfuls of water.

Odin felt his stomach squirm at how ignorant the audience was to his suffering, but it was obvious the only way he would have created those bubbles was if he was dying.

“See her twist see her writhe, the plant woman!” There was another attraction of a dark skinned, oddly pretty woman whose hair was leaves pulling through her scalp. She had sharp eyes and said nothing as they cajoled her to move her foliage.

Odin looked away and shuddered, running a hand over his shoulder. He really should have been expecting this sort of thing, but it was still sickening.

A drum roll started, and he blinked as he realized he missed the last of the plant woman.

“And our star, the incredible, the unkillable, the beautiful phoenix!”

The girl from earlier was hoisted on stage, the blue cloth draped around her shoulders her only cover. He hadn’t noticed the flickering cinders off her ethereal wings earlier, but he did now as they outstretched and flapped a few times, heat hissing along the dirt.

The drum roll became more intense, and he noticed her wrists were chained, and she twisted them wildly.

The drum beat harder, like the relentless pump of a heart.

The girl yanked on the chains, protesting.

Odin felt his stomach twist violently.

Without warning, an iron spear cut through the air and cleaved through her chest, shooting through her. White-hot blood spattered around her and she cried out, tears pricking her eyes, wings beginning to spasm - but her body went black as tar and dry as charcoal before exploding like fireworks, the lights scattering in the air and around the stage.

She emerged from the ashes, tossing her head back, her body unblemished and pulsing with a sweet, pure light.

Odin thought the sight was one of the most sickeningly gorgeous events he had ever seen.

The crowd stood and cheered, clapping, glitter and ashes mingling in the air, the stage smelling of smoke and sea.

The phoenix was pulled off the stage by rough hands, and Odin didn’t know why concern beat at him so vigorously as the audience piled out. He cleaned up the trash quicker than usual and set the bag aside, coming to the stage. Ash was still piled up in heaps, and he buried his fingers in the cinders, still hot. They tingled with magic, and he pulled them out.

From behind the stage, he heard a forced cough like that of his younger sister, and curiosity was stronger than caution as he peeked around the corner.

The phoenix was in her cage and she was doubled over, her fingers biting at her face as her hands clasped over her mouth and she coughed. Plumes of smokes curled from between her teeth.

The plant woman leaned out of her cage and reached an arm out - shoots of plants shot out from her fingertips and entered the phoenix’s cage, wrapping around her fiery hand.

“Ava, this can’t keep up,” the plant woman warned lowly. “This is going to do some permanent damage.”

“I’m n-not the one thuh-throwing the spear,” she sputtered, still coughing, her body wracking with agony. “Maggie, if I could stop this I would…”

Maggie nodded and looked away grimly. “We’ll get out of here eventually, we will.”

The merman shifted in a larger tank, submerged in the water. “…Can we? We grew up here, we were taken when we were kids… what if Six is right? What if this is the only place for freaks like us?”

“We’re not freaks, Gil!” Maggie snapped, and her hair rustled, leaves unfurling. “Its those people out there that pay to see us die, those are the freaks of nature!”

Gil ducked his head down in the water, his hair like thin slices of silver. He didn’t say anything more, but Ava coughed a little and finally exhaled in relief.

“There’s really nothing to do now but wait,” she stated sluggishly. They had thrown another blanket into her cage and she tugged it over her bare shoulders. “That’s all we can do.”

There was an odd silence in the room, still and unyielding as the first winter snow in autumn and cold as three am beside a deathbed. It was so oppressive that Odin held his breath as he watched them, the magic of nature trapped and ogled at for man’s entertainment.

He could not keep the bitterness from twisting his mouth as Ava’s thumb gently ran over the planty roots that wrapped around her wrist, the fire of her eyes so blazing but so extinguished all the same.

He eventually had no choice but to look away and leave them alone. He could not help them, just as he could not help his sister.

He finished his cleaning and went home, his cottage buried in the woods and overgrown with foliage. He gave the milk and eggs to his sisters and went to bed.

The visage of her head thrown back, crying out in pain and exploding with stardust and cinders, the way her wings flapped violently as though to reach upwards towards the horizons, the tautness of the chains around her wrists - it haunted him while he slept.

He dreamt of his parent’s tombstones, and a third hole being dug. The soil was still fresh and damp, and the name of the stone had not been etched out yet, but the hole was so small - he knew who would be buried there.

A bright, burning bird landed on the stone. It stared at him with glassy eyes and opened its bronze beak to call out an ear splitting cry - but he heard a quiet voice say “ _I cheated. I can cheat for her, too._ ”

Odin awoke early the next morning, sweat across his brow and holding handfuls of the blanket.

—

The circus was usually closed during the day, and Odin waited patiently for directions. It would be after the noon that they would call him to move things or help take down a tent or set up another. For now, he set popping more kernels and smoking.

He sought out the phoenix earlier, but could not find her cage. They must have buried her somewhere deep to hide her shine.

He puffed another breath and felt his stomach settle. The milk he had stolen helped alleviate the constant chewing of his abdomen, and the eggs were good too.

The kernels popped and the warmth of the popper made his eyes droop for a moment.

Bright eyes and a face too round, gentle hands on his.

_If you let me out, I’ll set you free._

Odin’s eyes snapped open and he looked around, expecting to see Ava in front of him, but found no one.

—

Odin was once again placed to clear the stage of garbage.

This was a bad idea.

He fumbled with the chains, covered in soot and ash and even bits of old, corroded blood.

This was a  _really_ bad idea.

“What are you doing, Arrow?” Odin swore under his breath and dropped the shackles, the callouses on his fingers black with soot.

He blinked slowly, and swallowed hard. “Wh-What are you doing?”

Six blinked and tapped their cane against the floor. “Excuse you-”

“Excuse me,” Odin chimed and turned the other way, ducking out of the tent. Six made a sound of befuddlement, and Odin feared they would pursue him, but his slip of the tongue gave the circus manager enough frustration to give the garbage man some space.

He was breathing hard, and he put a hand to his heart. It thrummed wildly against his ribcage like a jackrabbit, and he could almost hear the husk of his lungs as he exhaled.

What was he doing? He could lose his job.

Hell, he  _would_ lose his job.

“Odin, the show is about to begin.”

He sucked in a breath and looked down at his hands. They were smudged with soot, the patch of cloth over his heart smeared with it.

_I can cheat for her too._

Were these dreams only pretty figments? Were they conjurations of his deep desire to make things better again? Or could the phoenix truly help him?

He didn’t know. Maybe it was selfish that he hadn’t even considered freeing her that night, he couldn’t even look at her and her nature-born kin without a knot building fiercely in his gut. He hadn’t thought of helping her until the dreams.

Was that so wrong? He sighed and picked up his trash bag, going to the back of the stage. He had only started working here since Olai had gone to the towns for supplies almost a month ago. Odin pondered if his older brother was in the cities spending for food, or for gambling. His priorities were always revolving around the girls, but you could never tell with that cold gleam in his eyes.

Odin waited as the attendants were ushered in and seated. He wondered if Six had found the damage he had done and repaired it, or if the chains still no longer secured to the walls like he had busted them off to be.

Six could have investigated, could have fixed them.

Then again, maybe not. There was still hope.

That word cause a snake of shock to jolt through Odin. Hope? Hope for what, exactly? Hope that an immortal, mystical creature of unknown kindness might help him?

Help the bone boy, the garbage man, the starving fox?

He looked down at his garbage bag and felt the sudden need to kick it over and scream at it, that he was more than this - he was more than his aching joints and throbbing lungs, he was more.

It certainly didn’t look like that as his chest squeezed and he was forced to lean against one of the seats, the air becoming scarce. He put his hand to his brow and exhaled slowly, feeling everything rattle and tremble behind exposed ribs, and he finally steadied himself.

When he looked back up, the lights were dimmed and the act had begun. The merman was on stage again, writhing against the rough and grating air, the gills on his throat flashing red from where he was gasping wildly for water.

As the night before, bubbled emerged from his throat, slipping between the flaps on his neck, fluttering thickly through the air.

Odin tried not to watch.

Like the night before he was pulled aside and just past the lights someone dumped a bucket over his head, letting him finally breathe.

Odin closed his eyes and thought of Magpie, how she sat in her bed, bleary eyed, the way her chest shuddered in a way similar to his own, how weak her hands were and how the roses in her cheeks had wilted so many winters ago.

The plant woman was on stage, and they prodded her with hot tipped arrows so her leaves would flash and prickle like hackles. He thought of the wolves in the woods, and how similarly they would react if they were prod with hot pokers.

Then, the star.

The saving sun.

Once again, Ava was chained to the stage, and she struggled, she fought.

 _Please_ , he began to plead with whatever forces may be. _Please, just this once._

She pulled and bit at the air, her hair flashing and her skin reddening at the shackles.

_Please._

On stage, she staggered. Then, she lifted her wrists, exposing the lack of tautness of the chains. She lifted her hands, and showed the broken links. Her eyes widened and a few circus attendants made a noise of surprise and shock. She was no longer contained.

She looked up, her wingers extended, tips licking up the sides of the tent-

and Odin knew nothing but fire.

He was blown back, flames searing the air, screaming the world around him. It blasted through the rotting wood that had kept up the tent, and parts of the canopy began to collapses with chunks of scathing ash and blackened plastic.

He rolled onto his stomach and tried to move, but another collapse blocked the way, sparks dancing over his face and causing him to flinch.

The audience was screaming, fleeing. He had the strength to live, but none to move - his lungs begged for air, but when he inhaled he choked on nothing but smoke. He threw his head back and clawed at his throat, coughing, his limbs buckling.

Nothing ever went according to plan.

Something sharp clamped onto both his arms, and they twisted with pain. Before he could react, he was yanked upwards, hot ash and fire dusting down his shoulders and arms.

He was greeted with the night sky.

Odin couldn’t say what was holding onto him, whether it was hands or talons - only that it was warm against his back as he coughed up plumes of smoke and the night sky danced with glittering sparkles from his headache.

Something was flapping against his shoulders, and he must have blacked out for a moment - he had a habit of falling asleep around warm things - because he was settled by his house. His feet hit the grass, and the moment the sharp pain released their grip, he felt up his arms. They were spotted with blood, and there were puncture wounds where claws had dug deeply into the soft flesh beneath his shoulders.

Odin dared to glance up, and found a magnificent bird perched upon one of the large trees bordering his home. It radiated with a warmth he couldn’t name, a touch he couldn’t identify.

It took only a moment as the creature threw its head back and screeched, the beak pulling into a button nose and feathers flattening into golden skin.

Ava sat on the branch, watching him.

“You trimmed the chains,” she said, and the statement was a question.

“Y…Yes.”

She kicked her feet and flexed her toes. “Why?”

He cleared his throat and rubbed his shoulders. “Y-You… I n-need your h-help.”

She smiled, and dark lips framed ivory teeth, tinged yellow at the edges like the predators of the wood. “I thought so.”

There was a resonating clap through the woods, and they both looked up to see too many fireworks going off.

“It seems my fire reached the tent where they hold the sparking bolts,” she mused aloud, sounding pleased. Odin cleared his throat and scratched his neck as the colors scattered across the sky, burning brightly and leaving streaks of pale smoke before finally choking out.

“W-Was anybody k-killed in you-your fire?”

Ava’s skin was strange looking in the fireworks. Green made aqua wander over her cheeks, as though she was submerged. Her hair was moving strangely too - Odin blinked rapidly as though something was wrong with his eyes.

“Yes. My fire has killed a lot of people.”

Another firework exploded, this time drenching the sky in a rich purple. Odin looked down at his hands, and they looked detached with the lavender and night shades coloring his skin, darkening his pallor into an alien hue. Ava’s hair looked as though she was drenched in sweet wildflower honey, golden and shining, with trickles of wine along her hair and tracing the contours of her face.

The firework died, and only Ava’s light remained.

“Why did you ask?”

Odin wanted to sit down to talk, but she was sitting on a branch to keep above eye level with him, and he didn’t want to look up. For a moment he didn’t even realize that she had decorated herself with only the tattered blanket from earlier - with her strange beauty, she may have been a Queen, no matter the cloth.

“I w-was wondering… h-how much you v-valued life.” His voice kept lowering to just above a whisper before cutting out, and he wondered why he was so hesitant.

“I value life,” she continued sweetly, her voice high and distant like hawk calls “unless that life belongs to those who have wronged me.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. He wished he had the strength to burn down whoever had spurned him in any way, but he was a human man. Nothing more.

“I can give it to you,” she offered. “In exchange for cutting my iron shackles. I can give you the powers of old.”

He blinked. The power of an immortal? Of a phoenix, or something else?

It was tempting, to be sure. Especially with how she was looking at him, with a tiny, unsure smile, hand beginning to outstretch and enfold his. How would she feel? He had never touched an immortal before, their hands didn’t even brush when he stole her things.

The power of an immortal.

A whisper like smoke, the ever present reminder-

 _Magpie_.

“M-My sister,” he blurted. Ava jerked back from his sudden outburst. “Sh-She’s sick. I w-want you t-to help her.”

“And that’s why you set me free?”

“Y-Yes.”

She was glowing - how did her eyes darken?

“Is that the only reason?”

Odin couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. She deserved to hear the truth.

“Yes.”

She smiled. It was bitter, but relaxed. “Your honesty has saved your sister’s life,” she replied in a dulcet, low voice. “You have saved three of Her favorite children tonight - Gil Marverde can return to his sea to join with his master, Magnolia Lacivi can reunite with her wood, and I can once again sleep among clouds.” Her hand reached out and brushed his cheek. His skin felt warm not with temperature, but with affection. “Where is she?”

He led her to his home, opening the door. Her feet were silent as ash when they hit the wood, carefully padding along the floor. She spotted his two other sisters sleeping and gestured to them.

“N-No, th-those are C-Crow and Raven, my two other sisters.”

“They’re named after birds?” she asked, whipping her head around to look at their young faces.

“Y-Yeah… My th-third sister, too. M-Magpie.”

Ava smiled fondly at the children and leaned over to them. Odin wanted to take her by the wrist and yank her back, to tell her not to get close - but she simply whispered “Sleep well, hatchlings,” into their ears. A moment after, smiles pulled across their faces. “They’ll dream well tonight,” she reassured as Odin led on.

He led her into the highest room, and the more sterile one. She stepped into the room, smiling slowly at the sickly form sleeping in her bed, thin hands cupped to her chest as she slept in the fetal position. Ava flapped her wings and glided over to the edge of her bed.

Ava put out a hand and traced the girl’s jaw line with an extended finger, making her limp face turn upwards.

“How long has she been ill?”

“As l-long as I c-can remember. It g-got worse when th-the f-first chill of w-winter settled.”

Ava hummed and cupped Magpie’s face in her hands, leaning down and looking at her with half lidded eyes. Odin began to clench at his shirt, wringing out the fabric.

Ava closed her eyes and a quiet sob escaped her lips. Odin blinked as the Phoenix began weeping softly onto his sister’s face, her tears like gold, leaving little tributaries along her cheeks.

Of course.

Phoenix tears can heal anything.

The mythical creature stopped and looked down. Magpie’s face began to unwind from its tension, and the pinched expression faltered as her cheeks began to hue pink and the waxy sweat on her brow settled.

“There. Your sister is healed.” Odin felt a rush of relief crash through his body, enough to make him laugh and run his calloused hand over his face.

“I wish I could say the same for you.”

He froze. “What?”

Looking up, Ava had unlatched the window and was sitting on the sill, looking out at the cool, clear night. “It’s your breathing - it rattles like wind through a sapling.”

“I… sm-smoke sometimes. N-No big d-deal.”

“It will kill you.” Her words were real, and steady, and spoke of no mirth so well known to faery folk. “It’s as though your insides are drenched with tar, and they grow heavier by the second.” She looked back to him, and he couldn’t breathe - whether it be because of her words or the smoke - and her expression was so grave he wondered how a face so bright in coloration would show such a dark emotion. “It will collapse under its own weight.”

He looked at his feet. “Is m-my favor all used u-up?”

She hummed, and there was a tremor of laughter through it, lighthearted enough to make him look up. “I could make… a trade.”

She coaxed him closer, and he neared her, enough to feel the scathing feathers of her wings brush his wrists.

“You see, your sister’s sickness was in the fever that was poisoning her. Yours is more internal.”

His tongue felt thick.

“Wh-What does that m-mean?”

“That means I’ll have to kiss you,” she smiled bashfully, winding a lock of hair in her fingers.

That staggered him, and he couldn’t stop the blush that pushed up across his face and made him go lightheaded. “O-Oh…”

“There’s a catch.”

He was hoping there wasn’t.

“A bit of me will have to go into you to fix up your breathing,” and she extended a finger, dragging it along his chest, leaving a line of warmth through his shirt “but I risk leaving too much.”

“A-And, what if th-that happens?”

“You… get a little bit immortal. It takes a lot longer to die by time.”

At first the thought of being immortal was a blessing, as he could now use the time that had been taken from him as a struggling youth, but he looked over to Magpie’s sleeping form.

He realized the catch. He would outlive his family.

“Do y-you know wh-when I’ll d-die?”

“I’m not a fortune teller, but all things born of magic have a little foresight.” She paused and looked away, braiding her fingers. “It would take a little while - but I don’t see you living past three winters.”

Three years. His sisters wouldn’t even be adults by then, couldn’t fend for themselves with Olai out so often.

To be there for his sisters and be without them forever, or for them to be without him and for him to meet an early grave?

The gravestone hadn’t been etched with a name yet, but a hole that small could fit his body as well as his sister’s.

Ava outstretched her hand.

He sucked in a breath.

He would rather be without his family then they be without him.

Stepping forward, she took his face in her hands. He felt her face near his, and when their lips touched he felt like he was kissing stardust. There was a pleasant tingling that traveled from his mouth to his insides, branching and leaving warmth in its wake. Ava’s mouth was incredibly soft, and her hands were hot at the palms, making him relax and ease into the kiss, tasting fire and magic, electricity dancing at his shoulders and his hair going on end.

She pulled back and the tingling pulled, leaving him shaking, trembling, his hands twitching.

He could  _breathe_.

“I didn’t leave any magic in you,” she whispered. “So you’ll live as a mortal man.” There were tears down her face, and he remembered they were apart of the magic. For some reason, though, her voice sounded disappointed.

The tears didn’t stop - she looked away and dangled her feet out the window, her wings stretching, preparing to take to the skies.

She was still crying.

“Y-You don’t have to k-keep crying,” he reminded, confused. “I’m f-fixed, my s-sister is okay…”

She closed her eyes, and they kept dripping down, leaving fat droplets on her hands and the scarce cloth she wore as clothing.

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she replied shakily “mortal Odin. Keep to your family.” When she turned to look at him, he felt his stomach drop. “We probably won’t see each other again.”

With that last goodbye, she dropped out the window. At the last second, before she hit the ground, her wings beat once, hard, and she blasted into the air, leaving cinders in her wake, and soaring high into the night sky, leaving streaks of fire off her wing tips.

He recalled her offer from earlier - to become an immortal, alongside her.

The hollowness in his chest had a new thought that reclaimed the throne of his worry for his sister.

He had never thought immortals would be so heartbroken in their solitude.

He watched the lonely phoenix be swallowed up by the night.

“Odin?”

_Keep to your family._

Magpie had been his one reason for releasing her, but now he felt his heart tug at the other creature considered a freak like himself, that wanted a companion - a friend.

He turned and Magpie was sitting up in her bed, a hand on her forehead and an astonished look on her face. Her eyes were bright. “I can sit up!”

“Th-That’s good,” he tried to sound happy, this was for the best “t-try to get some m-more sleep, okay?”

“…Odin?”

He blinked, the night causing his sight to be blurry.

“Why are you crying?”

Ava showed him this - not all tears were healing.

Some showed wounds that could never heal.

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “Get some sleep.”

He turned and closed the window.

_We probably won’t see each other again._

Odin held onto those words and let his heart ache as he settled down to sleep, the throbbing in his heart far outweighing the original throb in his lungs.

All deals had a catch, and he should have caught her while he could.

_We probably won’t see each other again._

_Probably._

A probably was a maybe, and feeding the hope in his heart with the memory of her kiss, he laid down to sleep.

He knew in the hollow of his heart the last he would see of her was the blazing streak in the night sky - but he couldn’t help but hope.

Hope, it seemed, was all he was good at these past days. 


	41. gasoline and gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the one where the headcanon about ship engines keeping odin's house warm ended up being correct

Ava did not remember much from her childhood, aside from ignoring candle-light ghosts and drawing things that never made sense – she had precious few memories about her family.

Her mother liked to write, she remembered writing the word  _pact_  in all caps with crayon over one of her journals.

Her father liked fixing things, cars mostly.

She knew the illness in her mind troubled him greatly, the way his brow furrowed and his lips twisted. She was the one thing his tinkering couldn’t fix.

She liked to watch him in the back yard, his calloused hands drenched in oil or slick with grease, observing him as he lay on his back underneath one of the vehicles, tinkering with the engine. It was a pastime for the girl who could not control her demon – nothing was more peaceful than sleeping or watching her father work.

She remembered one day, her demon had possessed her to dump out a jug of gasoline onto the concrete under the car. The engine of the vehicle had been having difficulties, she could vaguely remember – something about sparks, the engine kept smoking and would heat up. She was too small to recall the details, but remembered her demon forcing her onto her hands and knees in the black, unclean gasoline, not meant for fuel.

“Come on – spark already! Light ‘er up!” her demon chanted in frustration.

Of course, moments after, Ava’s father found her and snatched her away.

She wasn’t allowed to watch him work in the backyard anymore, but she remembered the gasoline on her hands, stark against her frail skin. It reflected tiny oils, making the surface appear like the sheen of an opal, the green and blue shimmer of peacock feathers over the thick black. She remembered the smell, burning in her nose as her mother hastily washed it off.

In spite of the memory, she liked gasoline.

It was one of the few memories of home.

>>> 

The Arrow’s home was far different than the one she had managed to cobble together from traumatic memories, or even of the faux one she had built from ideals and imagination.

The siblings were at odds with each other, but still managed to support the other. Watching a knife lazily be flung across the room only to have Odin lean back and roll his eyes as it slid past his face as though that was  _normal_  – it kept her on her toes.

This place was colder than the TiTAN issued planet though, and she could see it in the way they passed out blankets at nightfall. The house was not entirely insulated, and the moment the sun began to wane a chill settled across the home.

Ava sat, only feeling a fraction of the temperature drop, thanks to her unusual flesh. She sat on the far end of one of the couches, looking over Wrathia’s plan with a grain of salt. She furrowed her brows and puckered her lips at one of the poorly inked illustrations.

Odin settled down next to her, giving her a short nod before continuing in his journal. They were mutually quiet, before Raven came to Ava’s other side.

“Hey Ava, I was wondering if you could- whoa,” she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes going alight with fascination. “Ava, you’re super warm!”

She blinked, shutting the book. “What?”

Raven pulled her arm and hugged it to her chest, laughing a little. “Look, your weird skin is glowing again. You’re toasty!”

Ava flushed a little at the comment, trying with very little effort to pull her arm back. “Oh. Uh, thank you?”

“Shove over,” Raven prodded her and Ava scooted aside. She was hip to hip with Odin, and the other side gave enough space for his sister to shove herself next to Ava and snuggle up cozily. Ava blinked owlishly before cautiously opening her book and beginning to try and decipher what Wrathia had written.

The younger sister smelled different than Odin. Where he smelled of the woods and sweet smoke, Raven smelled like perfume doused a dab more than should be, and of starchy new clothes. It was an odd combination to be sandwiched between two siblings, but she did her best to ignore it.

Crow stepped out of the hallways, wearing a relatively large sweater. “Uh, what’s with the nest?”

Raven piped up eagerly “Ava’s like a lil heater!”

Everyone else in the house had donned on their layers, but Ava’s forearms were bare, showing the churning magma underneath. Crow’s gaze slid to the fiery skin, quirking a brow, before insisting aloud “I suppose I can see this for myself,” as though Ava offered.

She still held out an arm anyway, to which Crow seized her wrist and her usual apathetic demeanor dropped. “Whoa,” she breathed quietly.

A quick couch shuffle later and Ava had Odin on one side and the girls on the other.

The fireplace was starting to go out, but no one seemed to notice except for her. When did she become the space heater, exactly?!

Olai stepped in then, rubbing his arms. “Was anyone going to toss another log onto the fire or-?” he stopped short after settling another wood block into the fire, staring at the huddle pile around Ava. “Did I miss a sleepover or some shit?”

“Ava is super warm,” Raven started, to which Crow ended “and we’re not sharing her with you.”

Apparently, she had become an item of some sort. She gave a glance to Odin, who was very pointedly looking in the other direction, as though he wasn’t apart of this conversation at all – even though, he too, was pressed acutely against her side. He was actually a little boney, and she could feel his hip jutting against hers, to which she suffocated wherever that thought was going and hastily transplanted it into another drawer of her mind.

Olai sauntered forward, and snorted. “She’s only warm because you’re all huddled against her.”

Crow nudged Ava with her cheek against her shoulder, and Ava rolled her eyes, holding out her hand. But instead of grabbing her wrist for a reading, he slid his hand into hers firmly, making her stomach twist.

“Well, fuck me, she really  _is_  super warm.”

He wasn’t letting go, and she was feeling increasingly anxious. Odin seemed to go tense at her side and she took that as the cue to pull away, even then there was a little hesitation from Olai’s end.

Olai narrowed his eyes a little, to which Ava found solace in the fact that three of his siblings were pressed against her. Crow snapped “Don’t be weird,  _weirdo_. Stop giving that look.” He seemed to snap from his concentration and shrug lazily again, looking back at the fireplace.

“Have fun in your nest. I’m hitting the sack early.”

He left, and Ava released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, the pressure easing from her lungs.

She looked over Wrathia’s book for a little more, before noticing the sisters at her side had gone slack. Looking, they both appeared to be asleep. Strange, with both their faces relaxed, they were completely identical. Ava wondered if this fabled third sister, Magpie – who she had yet to meet – had the same facial structure as her avian sisters.

“Y-You should st-stay out here, tonight,” Odin murmured softly. Ava wasn’t expecting him to speak, but to her credit she didn’t jump.

“Why?”

Odin looked back towards his brother’s room, before saying aloud “Don’t wanna wake the girls.”

Ava felt like that was a lie, but a carefully concealed one. Either way his concern was over a sibling doing something, so she stayed where she was sitting, as did he.

She closed Wrathia’s book and watched the fireplace flicker. For some reason, it seemed easier to track the licks of flame when it ran in your veins.

“Y-You know,” Odin began softly, looking at the fireplace alongside her “w-we used to have a r-real shitty h-heater in here.”

“…is that your way of complementing me?” she replied, tone lackluster.

“N-No! I, uh,” he hastily rubbed the back of his neck “I j-just… th-the heater w-we used to h-have, back when I w-was little… it wasn’t a-actually a heater. It w-was th-the engine for a sp-space ship, but it w-would emit a l-lot of heat if it w-was fueled and h-hooked up.”

“Isn’t that dangerous,” Ava inquired, glancing to his face. In this light, his features seemed too soft in contrast to the sharp person she had met weeks ago. “Radioactivity or other kind of things? I heard certain emissions can cause a lot of nasty effects, like space radiation disease or… if it was a ship that could go light speed, the engine could cause cellular degradation caused by exposure to antimatter.”

He quirked a brow, but his mouth bent into a funny crooked thing that could be called a smile. “I d-didn’t p-picture you as a g-gearhead.”

“I’m not,” she admitted with a shrug. “That’s about the extent of what I can remember.”

“R-Remember?”

“My dad was real into tech.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, causing the sisters to shift a little before sinking back into place. “He worked on cars, but if we had more money he really wanted to get his own little ship. He used to talk about stuff like that a lot. I was an avid listener.”

She flushed that Odin was listening so intently, eyes sketching over her face. It made her insides squirm and she looked away from his face. It didn’t help much.

He didn’t ask any questions in the small pause she gave, and for that she was grateful. “You know, he used to work out back. The smell of gasoline and oil always followed behind him. My favorite memories are of him leaned under a car. I always liked the black of gasoline.”

He nodded, looking towards his journal. It was still in his hands, a finger nestled between the pages. He scooted forward and set it on the cushion next to him – as he leaned a little, Ava noticed the dark in his hair and the pale sharpness of his skin. He glanced towards her and she looked away.

“A-About my old h-heater…” she had interrupted him, didn’t she? Now she felt really foolish, but Odin took it in stride. “W-We didn’t have m-much of a choice. Th-That’s why M-Magpie got s-sick, y-you know? We kn-knew n-not to hang ar-around that thing too of-often, it could make us aw-awfully sick. But sh-she was always l-lingering nearby, t-trying to get warmer.”

This was the most information she had on Magpie so far, but she bit her curiosity down at the sight of Odin’s grave expression. He braided his fingers together and leaned forward, settling his elbows on his knees.

“Th-The p-problem is, e-even though it m-made her sick, m-made us all feel s-so l-lethargic and awful… I st-still liked th-that stupid en-engine. It kept us w-warm, doing wh-what it was s-supposed to. I-It w-was just t-trying too hard.”

She felt like he was leading up to something, so she stayed silent.

“S-Sometimes, wh-when it w-was running t-too hot… the engine would h-heat up so hot i-it was gold. Th-The wood around it w-would be scorching, and i-it w-was a s-sight to see. All g-gold and warm in a w-world of g-grey sn-snow…” He smiled, and it was fond enough at the memory that she felt her heart squeeze. “B-But it m-made M-Magpie sick. It st-stole mom’s appetite and d-dad’s strength. Th-That engine ke-kept us alive, but at a c-cost.”

“It kept you alive,” she repeated, just above a whisper, one of her hands tracing the sneering pact on her chest “but at a cost…”

He looked back at her, and straightened up. “Wh-What’s with th-that look? I d-didn’t tell y-you that st-story for p-pity points, y-you know.”

“I can relate,” she replied softly, looking down at her hands, aglow with gold and fiery oranges.

“Mmn. W-Well, I t-told you th-that story, b-because… l-looking at y-you, with my si-sisters… it feels kind of n-nostalgic, you know?” Ava didn’t mean to, but she tensed up.

She was still capable of harm, TiTAN HQ had shown that. Did Odin trust to have his dear siblings near her for the sake of a night of warmth?

“Y-You’re b-better th-than the engine,” he added suddenly, backtracking.

“Am I?”

He looked startled, whipping his head around to look at her from where she sat on the couch, sisters at one side and a book nestled in her lap, knees brought close to her chest. He blinked a few times.

“Y-You won’t hurt th-them.”

He sounded so assured she wondered if he was convincing himself of that, or if he was honestly trusting her. Either way, she looked down at Wrathia’s journal with a sad smile, grateful for the complement for what it was worth.

“Y-You’re n-not as d-dangerous as y-you think.”

She gave him a flat look.

“O-Okay, so m-maybe you are. B-But that d-doesn’t mean you sh-should walk on p-pins and n-needles all the time.” He unwove his hands and placed one on her shoulder. “J-Just because y-you’re dangerous d-doesn’t mean y-you can’t… I don’t kn-know, l-let y-yourself just… exist, w-without focusing on th-that.”

She rolled her eyes, biting the inside of her mouth delicately. “I’ve got claws and teeth that could make your local wolves have a run for their money.”

“W-Wolves still pl-play. Th-They still associate.”

“Yeah, well,” she sat up straight, trying to control the low thrum in her chest “I don’t see anybody else here with horns like me.”

Odin glanced away, eyes looking to the far side of the room. His visage twisted then, eyes narrowing and posture going still. “I d-do.”

“What?”

“Nothing. L-Listen,” he leaned back into the couch, looking away from the far corner with an acuteness that suggested he was bitter about whatever was over there “y-you can r-relax. M-My s-sisters sure have.”

Ava glanced over at the two girls, sleeping soundly. Ava didn’t like the idea of a family accepting her, not while she was like this, not while she had horns and teeth and claws with flesh caught underneath them, the taste of copper still so prominent in her mouth. But the small family was already meshing around her, as though she was trustworthy.

She wished she was done with her pact. This would have made a good life.

“B-Birds of a f-feather flock together. Th-That’s what Magpie always says,” he said as he began doodling something in his journal. “I th-think the g-girls like you b-because you’re l-like this, you kn-know.”

She blinked. That… was a fair point.

Would this life be possible without Wrathia? Would she be able to live here, comfortably and have these sisters at her side without the demon making fire in her flesh?

…Probably not.

She exhaled drearily. It was exhausting to have people be interested in you for something you disliked about yourself.

“I l-like you because y-you’re like this.”

Ava’s heart did something strange then – it seemed to stop momentarily, the perception of time distorting as the world around them turned silent, the only things in the entire universe being her and Odin sitting quietly in a living room with dusty furniture and hardwood floors. He turned and though he didn’t smile, his eyes were incredibly gentle, half lidded and watching her response delicately.

“Y-You’re golden, Ava.”

She looked down and she had warmed up at his words, her hands glowing with swirling fire and shimmering garnet fingertips. She could only imagine what her face looked like.

It was even stranger to have someone like you for the things you disliked about yourself. Ava smiled a little.

“Your hair reminds me of the gasoline spilled in my backyard.”

He quirked a brow. “O-Olai says it r-reminds him of sh-shoe-polish l-leaking from my ears.”

“Well,” she nudged him with her shoulder “gasoline makes me think of home.”

He made a neutral noise in the back of his throat. “L-Looks like w-we both r-remind e-each other of home.”

The fireplace was beginning to cool down as the flames died, leaving golden cinders glowing in the charred, black wood. Neither of them moved.

“Th-The house is g-going to g-get cold if w-we don’t t-tend to that,” he murmured, finally relenting and crossing the room to toss a few logs in and coax the fire back to life. Ava watched his movements until he finally came back to the couch and ended up crossing his legs so he could warm his feet a little.

“It’s late,” she announced softly. “You should get to bed.”

He shrugged. “It’ll b-be warmer out h-here with you th-than in my room.” He suddenly backpedaled “B-Because m-my bed is c-cold, uh-”

“You want Ava to warm your bed?” Raven asked with a Cheshire smile, and they both flushed.

“G-Go back to sl-sleep.”

“As long as you don’t jostle the whole couch again,” Crow replied as she realigned herself a little bit across her sister to absorb some of Ava’s warmth.

They both waited until the sisters were asleep to start talking again. “Well, I’m going to sleep,” she decided aloud. Odin nodded and went back to doodling in his journal.

Eventually she drifted into a serene state of mind, her thoughts between cloud and mountain, sleep slowly claiming her until all went dark.

>>> 

Odin watched as she fell asleep, his sisters lying against her cozily, all of them warm in this icy cold.

He didn’t tell her, but he, too, contracted illness because of that engine. It had eaten away at him, appetite lost and his bones growing brittle.

Olai glared at that old engine like he had glared at Ava.

It didn’t matter. The sickness was worth it, if he could get warm for a little while, if he could feel the tips of his fingers for a bit.

Ava slept serenely, her coppery locks fanned out behind her.

It was worth a little danger to feel warm again.


End file.
